02/12/26 07:42:00
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02/12 07:40 CST Reactions to the banning of Vladyslav Heraskevych from the
Olympics
Reactions to the banning of Vladyslav Heraskevych from the Olympics
By The Associated Press
Notable reactions to Ukrainian skeleton athlete Vladyslav Heraskevych being
banned from the Milan Cortina Games because of his insistence on wearing a
helmet that pays tribute to athletes and coaches killed in the war with Russia:
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"No one, no one --- especially me --- is disagreeing with the messaging. The
messaging is a powerful message. It's a message of remembrance. It's a message
of memory and no one is disagreeing with that. The challenge that we are facing
is that we wanted to ask or come up with a solution for just the field of
play." --- International Olympic Committee President Kirsty Coventry.
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"I thank our athlete for his clear stance. His helmet, bearing the portraits of
fallen Ukrainian athletes, is about honor and remembrance. It is a reminder to
the whole world of what Russian aggression is and the cost of fighting for
independence. And in this, no rule has been broken." --- Ukraine President
Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
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"I want to believe that the reason is that she really felt sorry as an athlete,
as a former athlete, and that she really wants me to compete. But we have what
we have and we'll see what is next." --- Heraskevych, on his meeting with
Coventry.
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"I think I'm just left with a real sense of sadness, and real surprise." ---
2014 and 2018 women's skeleton Olympic champion Lizzy Yarnold, speaking on the
BBC.
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"He trained wearing a helmet bearing the faces of Ukrainian athletes and
friends killed by Russia. He wanted to remind the world that this war
continues. That it has names. Faces. Stories. He was excluded from the
Olympics. Excluded by the same Olympic Committee that allowed 20 Russian and
Belarusian athletes to compete under a neutral flag." --- Katarina Mathernova,
European Union Ambassador to Ukraine, on Instagram.
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"The IOC has banned not the Ukrainian athlete, but its own reputation. Future
generations will recall this as a moment of shame." --- Ukrainian Foreign
Minister Andrii Sybiha.
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"It's just a shame that he's missed out on a chance of being able to compete at
an Olympics, which is very sad." --- Olympic men's skeleton leader Matt Weston
of Britain.
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"The International Olympic Committee destroyed our dreams. It's not fair." ---
Mykhailo Heraskevych, the slider's coach and father.
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AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics
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