A line in the snow: Why the Ukrainian athlete was banned and others were not

Milan: The disqualification of Ukrainian Vladyslav Heraskevych for displaying on his helmet images of Ukrainian athletes killed in the Russian war places him in the unofficial hall of fame for Olympic dissent, alongside American sprinters Tommy Smith and John Carlos for their black power salute at Mexico City in 1968.

Unlike Smith and Carlos, who were given short shrift by the hard line IOC and expelled from the Olympics with scant due process, the Ukrainian skeleton pilot was offered choices by this more compassionate iteration of the IOC.

Disqualified Ukrainian athlete Vladyslav Heraskevych.Credit: AP

He would be permitted to wear the tribute helmet after he finished his runs and when facing the media afterwards and in practice. But the IOC and his sport’s governing body drew a line in the snow on him wearing it in competition.

The Ukrainian would not bend. In a sport that involves hurtling downhill at 130 km/h head-first, Heraskevych, as per Margaret Thatcher, was not for turning. He would exercise his right to be a one-man memorial.

The decision to disqualify the Ukrainian was made before his meeting with IOC president Kirsty Coventry on Thursday in Cortina, when the Olympics boss explained their ruling to him while leaving the door ajar for a backdown.

He had not yet been sent to Coventry, so to speak, because the IOC says it could have “revoked” the ban had Heraskevych been willing to compromise.

He says the helmet is not against IOC rules, and reportedly intends to appeal the decision at the Court of Arbitration for Sport. An appeal would need to be completed and judged at skeleton-like speed.

IOC President Kirsty Coventry front the media in Cortina after Vladyslav Heraskevych was banned from competition.Credit: AP

The Ukrainian war is not the only theatre of conflict or memorialising of the dead that has been platformed at these Milan-Cortina Games.

Israeli athlete Jared Firestone – also a skeleton racer – emblazoned the names of the 11 athletes murdered by Black September terrorists at the 1972 Munich Olympics on a customised kippah when marching at the opening ceremony.

So, what is the primary difference between the Ukrainian and the Israeli’s gestures, both tributes to the dead in arenas that ban forms of athlete expression? As the IOC explained to this masthead, the Israeli’s kippah was covered by a beanie.

Jared Firestone carries the flag for Israel at the opening ceremony.Credit: Getty Images

“If it’s not visible, it’s not an issue,” said Mark Adams, the IOC’s director of communications.

The reason for the rules that led to the Ukrainian’s ban from competition, he added, was in part to protect athletes from pressures from within their own countries, to make statements or “commemorate this person or that person”.

“They needed the safe space where they could compete in sport,” said the IOC chief spokesman.

Another factor that went against the Ukrainian was that his gesture was not a one-off. Had he done this once in competition, agreed to abandon it thereafter, he would have been still competing. But he wore it at training twice this week.

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The issue was even raised (by media) of the American figure skater Alex Naumov holding up the photos of his parents who died in a plane crash, as a test of the revised athlete expression rules.

“The fundamental difference in this case [Naumov] - and with the [Firestone] beanie too, the beanie was fine...it would have been a one-off, it would have been spontaneous,” said Adams. In past cases, athletes have been issued with warnings.

“This case [Heraskevych], the guy has said ‘no, I’m sorry, I’m going to do this protest. I don’t care about all the compromises, I don’t care about the black arm band. I’m doing it.’” One compromise presented to the Ukrainian was that he instead wear a black arm band during competition.

Naumov’s gesture, it must be said, was personal rather than political, although both were memorialising people who had died.

People take part in an Anti-ICE demonstration, ahead of the 2026 Winter Olympics.Credit: AP

Much as the IOC has sought to clarify the line between acceptable and unacceptable athlete expressions in competition, there is still a grey zone. Officially, the relevant rule for Milano Cortina decrees that “no kind of demonstration or political or religious or racial propaganda is permitted in any Olympic sites, venues or other areas.”

Yet, the Ukrainian was allowed to make his statement in some places and at some times, just not when he was about to hurtle down the chute. Further, it is not always clear what constitutes political, religious or racial propaganda.

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US President Donald Trump, too, has hovered over these Olympics – represented only by his vice president JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio – as American athletes, headed by skier Hunter Hess, have been in Trump’s cultural crosshairs, and some have fired back. Further, there has been a protest in Milan against the presence of US ICE immigration and customs officials.

It was revealing, however, that the USA ice hockey women’s team – Winx odds for the gold medal – have shut down any commentary on Trump, as I experienced first hand at their rout of Canada when the team’s communications boss intervened and smothered further questions, two of them having already politely declined to enter into the political fray and one offering measured support for the USA athletes right to free speech.

Dissent against one’s country is permitted, of course, outside of competition, the ceremonies – including medal podium – and at the athlete village.

The USA women’s ice hockey team have made a pragmatic decision to take the proverbial fifth (amendment), not to avoid incrimination, but to keep their eyes on the prize.

For the banned Ukrainian skeleton pilot, a different calculus has driven his uncompromising stand. To highlight those who had paid the ultimate price was his ultimate prize.

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