Skeleton racer Vladyslav Heraskevych said that after his disqualification from the 2026 Olympics due to his “helmet of remembrance,” the whole world saw that the International Olympic Committee system is playing into russia’s hands, hromadske.ua reported.
Vladyslav Heraskevych said that he wanted to draw the world’s attention to Ukraine with his actions. “Now I can analyze it more, and I understand that literally every corner of the world supported us. Every corner of the world saw this injustice. They saw that the IOC system is strongly playing into russia’s hands. Finally, we were able to pull back the curtain on the IOC’s pro-russian game,” said the climber.
He also said that he received a lot of support from Ukrainians, including people who lost loved ones in the war.
“When she (the mother of the deceased athlete depicted on the helmet — UT) saw her son on the helmet, she went to his grave and said, ‘Taras, the russians are afraid of you even when you’re dead. “These are small sentences that contain so much love and pain. If we can ease even a little bit of what the loved ones of those who died in this war are going through, then it’s worth everything, it’s much more important than any medals,” says Heraskevych.
Heraskevich’s lawyer, Yevgeny Pronin, explained the plans after the disqualification and the lost appeal in the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). According to him, there are now 30 days to decide on further legal action, and “no one will back down.”
“There is no appeal or cassation in this court, but there is the possibility of appealing to the Federal Court of Switzerland. Some say it should be the Swiss Supreme Court, but it’s easier in terms of jurisdiction… Looking at how he [Vladislav Heraskevich] has behaved all these days, I think you understand. It is clear that no one is going to back down and no one will,” the lawyer said.
