The Court of Arbitration for Sport has dismissed Ukrainian skeleton racer Vladyslav Heraskevych’s appeal against his disqualification from the Milano-Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics, upholding a ruling that barred him from competing over a helmet honoring victims of Russia’s invasion.
CAS said Olympic neutrality rules “reasonably balance” athletes’ freedom of expression with the need to maintain political neutrality at the Games, effectively ending Heraskevych’s attempt to be reinstated to competition.
The 27-year-old athlete had planned to race wearing what he described as a “helmet of memory,” featuring images of Ukrainian athletes and children killed during the war. Olympic authorities determined the display violated rules prohibiting political messaging during competition.
The International Olympic Committee had offered a compromise that would have allowed Heraskevych to display the helmet before and after the race and to wear a black armband while competing. He declined the proposal, maintaining the tribute was an act of remembrance rather than a political statement.
The International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation subsequently disqualified him after he continued wearing the helmet during training runs ahead of the event.
While CAS upheld the competition ban, Olympic officials later restored Heraskevych’s accreditation, allowing him to remain at the Games in a non-competing capacity.
The case has drawn strong reactions beyond sport. Ukraine’s luge team staged a solidarity gesture during competition, and President Volodymyr Zelenskyy publicly praised the athlete following the ruling.
Heraskevych previously drew international attention at the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics when he held a “No War” sign after a race.
The dispute has renewed debate over the International Olympic Committee’s strict neutrality rules, as global conflicts increasingly intersect with athletes’ efforts to use the Olympic stage to highlight humanitarian and political issues.
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