The defining image of the men's skeleton competition at the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics will not be a record timing or a podium celebration. It will instead be a helmet.
Vladyslav Heraskevych's “Helmet of Remembrance”, created by Kyiv-based artist Iryna Prots, lined with the black-and-white portraits and names of Ukrainian athletes, coaches and children killed during Russia's invasion of Ukraine found itself at the centre of a storm.
The helmet, or more importantly, Heraskevych's refusal to compete without it, ended his Olympic campaign 21 minutes before the first heat began on February 12.
The Ukrainian slider had worn the helmet throughout official training sessions in Cortina between February 8 and February 11. He did so despite coming under mounting pressure. The International Olympic Committee had already made clear during the week that the design breached its Guidelines on Athlete Expression and would not be permitted in competition.
IOC Sticks To Its Guns
On the day of the Heats, the IOC ruled that the helmet violated Rule 50 of the Olympic Charter, which prohibits political, religious or racial propaganda in Olympic venues and on the field of play. While the IOC stated it honoured the memory of the deceased, it insisted that competition areas must remain neutral.
Leading up to the Heats, IOC President Kirsty Coventry flew out to Milano Cortina and met Heraskevych at the top of the Cortina Sliding Centre in a last-ditch attempt at compromise. Alternatives were offered, such as wearing a plain black armband during competition or displaying the memorial helmet only in the mixed zone after the race.
Heraskevych refused.
For him, separating the tribute from competition day was unacceptable. He had used the helmet throughout training. Switching to a plain design for the heats, he argued, would reduce the memorial to a negotiable symbol rather than a fundamental expression of identity.
Seventy-five minutes before the start, dialogue remained unresolved. Twenty-one minutes before the first heat, the International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation jury removed him from the starting list under Technical Rule 10.2, citing equipment non-compliance. The IOC followed by revoking his accreditation, forcing him to leave the Olympic Village immediately.
A Non-Negotiable Position
Heraskevych was in peak form going into this competition, a legitimate medal contender based on the training data and a fourth-place finish at last year's World Championships. Yet he described a potential Olympic medal as “worthless” if it required him to conceal the faces on his helmet. He framed the risk of losing the medal as “the price of our dignity".
For him, the black armband proposal was deemed insufficient and displaying the helmet after the race would've been seen as a symbolic retreat.
Reaction Inside and Beyond the Track
Inside the Cortina Sliding Centre, the atmosphere was tense post the disqualification. Latvian coach Ivo Steinbergs filed a formal protest seeking reinstatement. Rival athletes expressed public respect for Heraskevych's stance. Chanmin Chyun, president of the Korea Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation, was seen consoling Heraskevych's father.
Internationally, debates were raised with regards to the IOC's neutrality doctrine. Major broadcasters questioned whether memorialising war victims constituted political propaganda. Former Olympic champion Lizzy Yarnold described the decision as “shocking” and “wrong".
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has also publicly defended his right to wear the helmet, stating that “this truth cannot be inconvenient.”
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