Ukrainian skeleton athlete Vladyslav Heraskevych trains again in banned helmet, despite IOC ruling

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CORTINA D'AMPEZZO, Italy (AP) — Ukrainian skeleton athlete Vladyslav Heraskevych trained again in his banned helmet Wednesday, one day before the start of his race at the Milan Cortina Games and with the International Olympic Committee urging him to make his point differently.

Heraskevych came to the Olympics with a customized helmet showing the faces of more than 20 Ukrainian athletes and coaches who were killed during their country's war with Russia, a conflict that started shortly after the 2022 Beijing Games ended.

But the IOC said Monday night that the helmet wouldn't be allowed in competition, citing a rule against making political statements on the Olympic field of play. Heraskevych wore the helmet for training Tuesday and Wednesday anyway, knowing the IOC could ultimately keep him from the Olympic race.

“The helmet does not violate any IOC rules,” Heraskevych said.

The IOC disagrees, and planned to talk to Heraskevych again Wednesday to discuss what would be allowed, spokesman Mark Adams said. Adams said those words about an hour before Heraskevych's Wednesday training session, so it wasn't immediately clear when or if that conversation would occur.

“We will reiterate the many, many opportunities that he has to express his grief," Adams said. "As we discussed before, he can do so on social media and press conferences in the mixed zone. So, we will try to talk to him about that and try to convince him.

"We want him to compete. We really, really want him to have his moment. That’s very, very important. We want all athletes to have their moment and that’s the point. We want all our athletes to have a fair and level playing field.”

Other Ukrainian athletes are speaking out in support of Heraskevych — with their hands.

“Remembrance is not a violation,” Ukrainian luge athlete Olena Smaha wrote on the palm of her glove during the final two runs of the women's luge event Tuesday night, a clear reference to the helmet and the fallout. (Smaha has written other messages on her glove before races in the past.) And Wednesday, just moments after he crossed the finish line in the men's super-G race, Ukrainian skier Dmytro Shepiuk lifted his right glove to show “UKR heroes with us” in another show of solidarity with Heraskevych.

The helmet was created a few weeks ago by a Ukrainian artist, and one of the reasons why Heraskevych believes it should be allowed is because some athletes have been allowed to pay tribute to others at the end of their competition.

One example: U.S. figure skater Maxim Naumov brought a photo of his late parents — former pairs world champions Evgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov, who were among the 67 people killed in a plane crash on Jan. 29, 2025 — to the kiss-and-cry area after his skate in Milan on Tuesday night.

“A beautiful tribute,” Heraskevych said.

The IOC has offered Heraskevych a chance to wear a black armband in competition as a display of his grief and mourning of countrymen, even though such tributes are typically not allowed. Adams said that represents a compromise; Heraskevych said he's not interested.

“I think the way that we hope that we can deal with this is on a human level. … We will have conversations with him to try to explain that actually it’s in everybody’s interest for him to compete and for him also to be able to say what he wants to say," Adams said. "So, I’m not saying that we have a solution, a ready solution, for this. But I think here, it’s better for people to talk to people and for human interaction, hopefully, to win the day.”

Heraskevych is a legitimate medal contender in Cortina: He was no worse than sixth in any of his five official training runs this week in the buildup to the Olympic race.

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AP Sports Writer Pat Graham in Bormio, Italy, contributed to this report.

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AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics