Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy – Ukrainian skeleton racer Vladyslav Heraskevych was disqualified from the Winter Olympics on Thursday after refusing to back down over his banned helmet, which depicts victims of his country’s war with Russia.
The International Olympic Committee said he had been kicked out of the Milano Cortina Games “after refusing to adhere to the IOC athlete expression guidelines.”
Heraskevych, 27, had insisted he would continue to wear the helmet, which carries pictures of Ukrainian sportsmen and women killed since Russian forces invaded Ukraine in 2022, during the men’s skeleton heats on Thursday.
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