Ukraine’s Heraskevych says he will compete in banned helmet, defying IOC – National
The helmet features a montage of pictures of Ukrainian athletes and friends killed in the war.
Ukraine on the grounds that Heraskevych should be permitted to wear a commemorative helmet depicting weightlifter Alina Peregudova, boxer Pavlo Ishchenko and hockey player Oleksiy Loginov.
The IOC rejected the appeal, citing a violation of its rules on political expression.
: “No kind of demonstration or political, religious or racial propaganda is permitted in any Olympic sites, venues or other areas.”
IOC spokesperson Mark Adams said the governing body would instead allow Heraskevych to wear a black armband while competing.
“There was an informal meeting last night with Mr. Heraskevych, his coach and the delegation, and we reiterated our understanding of the athlete’s wish to pay tribute to his fellow Ukrainian athletes, which he’s done during training and on social media,” Adams said .
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“After the meeting, we also have reiterated that we will make an exception to the guidelines to allow him to wear a black armband during competition to make that commemoration.”
credited the deceased athletes on his helmet for his ability to compete at the games and said they deserve to be remembered.
“Because of their [the dead athletes’] sacrifice, we are able to compete here as a team. I will not betray them,” he told an outdoor press conference by the Olympic rings in Cortina onTuesday.
“I believe they deserve to be with me on competition day. I used it yesterday [at training], I used it today [at training], I will use it tomorrow and I will use it on race day,” he said.
Heraskevych said he had received encouragement from numerous athletes, and Latvia’s coach, Ivo Steinberg, joined the press conference to voice his support.
“There is a strong support from other nations. Yesterday the president of Latvia came to visit us and he expressed strong support for Vladyslav. If it comes to disqualification we will see what we can do,” Steinberg said.
This is not the first time Heraskevych has made a statement on the sporting world’s most prestigious stage.
While competing at the 2022 Beijing Olympics, he held up a sign reading, “No War in Ukraine.”
In an Instagram post on Tuesday, following the helmet ban, he shared a photograph from that moment, writing, “Unfortunately, over these years this call for peace has only become even more relevant.”
“Also over these 4 years, the IOC has changed dramatically. Back then, in that action, they saw a call for peace and did not apply any sanctions against me.”
“Now, at the Olympics, we have already seen a large number of Russian flags in the stands, on the helmet of one of the athletes — and for the IOC, this is not a violation.”
He said the helmet “pays tribute to members of the Ukrainian sports family who have been killed since the last Olympic Games were held.”
“The truth is on our side. I hope for a fair final decision from the IOC,” he concluded.
In a separate video, he criticized the IOC for inconsistent enforcement of its rules against Ukrainians and for “betraying” the athletes pictured on his helmet by not allowing them to be honoured.
He referenced other incidents throughout Olympic history when athletes were allowed to honour the death of loved ones without punishment, including German weightlifter Matthias Steiner, who, on the podium after winning gold at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, held a photo of his late wife, who had died in a car accident more than a year prior.
“Despite precedents in modern times and in the past when the IOC allowed such tributes, this time they decided to set special rules just for Ukraine,” Heraskevych wrote.
— With files from Global News’ Adriana Fallico and Reuters
© 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
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