Ukrainian athlete says helmets with athletes killed by Russia are banned at Olympics

Ukrainian skeleton racer and flag bearer at the 2026 Winter Olympics Vladyslav Heraskevych said that one of the officials of the International Olympic Committee prohibits the use of a helmet with the image of athletes died due to the Russian war. The athlete said this reported on Instagram.

According to him, IOC representative Toshio Tsurunaga "expressed a critical ban" on the use of this helmet during competitions and official training.

"Given the fact that yesterday [February 8] an Italian snowboarder [Roland Fischnaller] competed with the Russian flag on his helmet, which [...] is prohibited by the IOC, there was no reaction to this. And the helmet with the names of the dead Ukrainian athletes – and, by the way, there are Olympians among them, members of the Olympic family – we received a critical ban on it," Heraskevich said.

He said he was preparing an official request to the IOC. The athlete hopes that this was the position of this official only, and not the entire Committee.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy thanked the athlete for "reminding the world of the cost of our struggle."

"This truth cannot be inconvenient, inappropriate, or called a 'political action at a sporting event. This is a reminder to the whole world of what modern Russia is," the head of state wrote.

On February 9, Geraskevich wore this helmet at his first training session on the Olympic track, Suspilne reported.

As of March 2025, Russians had killed 591 Ukrainian athletes and coaches, 22 were in captivity, and 11 were missing, Ministry of Foreign Affairs reported.

• On the evening of February 6, Italy hosted Olympic opening ceremony. The games will last until February 22. The host cities are the alpine resort of Cortina d'Ampezzo and Milan, but the competitions will also take place in other locations in northern Italy.