#vladyslav-heraskevych

#vladyslav-heraskevych

"It's our goal. Our goal was always to compete," the 27-year-old told a press conference late on Thursday, hours after International Olympic Committtee (IOC) President Kirsty Coventry had informed him that he had been disqualified from the competition. This came after he insisted on competing while wearing a helmet that bears portraits of more than 20 Ukrainian athletes killed in the ongoing war. He had worn the helmet in his five training runs each time placing among the top six.

I'm deeply saddened by the IOC banning skeleton athlete Vladyslav Heraskevych from the Winter Olympics. His helmet depicting images of athletes and children who died in Russia's invasion of Ukraine, some who he knew personally, was a human display of remembrance. The IOC's response was not an appropriate one. One only needed to look at the image of Heraskevych's father when he was told the news of his son's disqualification doubled over with his head in his hands to know the emotional toll.

After the third of four runs there, he held up a sign with the English inscription "No war in Ukraine" for the cameras at the finish line of the run. Thirteen days later, Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Since then, Heraskevych has tirelessly used his sport to draw attention to the suffering of the people in Ukraine and to urge further strict sanctions against Russian sports.

International Olympic Committee President Kirsty Coventry was waiting for Heraskevych at the top of the track when he arrived at around 8.15am Thursday, or roughly 75 minutes before the start of the men's skeleton race. They went into a private area and spoke briefly, and Coventry was unable to change Heraskevych's mind. He was holding the decision from the International Bobsled and Skeleton Federation when he briefly addressed reporters and said he would appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.