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UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Vladyslav Heraskevych was shunned by the Olympics, then invited to the United Nations.
He never expected that would happen.
The Ukrainian skeleton athlete was not allowed to compete at the Milan Cortina Games because of his plan to wear a helmet paying tribute to some of those killed following Russia’s invasion of his country. He spoke on a panel at the U.N. on Thursday detailing why he still believes he made the right decision.
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“I think it’s important that we use this stage and talk about important things,” Heraskevych said at the opening ceremony of Change the World Model United Nations, an educational simulation for thousands of students. “Sometimes it feels like, in all these hours of training, we really forgot about the overall mission of sports. It is not only about the medals, but it’s also about values that we represent.”
Heraskevych was invited to share his story as part of a panel that also included Shiva Amini, a former women’s soccer player for Iran who now lives in exile in New York. Amini was granted asylum in Switzerland in 2017 after the Iranian government threatened sanctions after she was photographed playing soccer with men while not wearing the mandatory hijab, or headscarf.
“We can save lives with sport,” Heraskevych said from the stage. “Sport gave people some hope.”
The International Bobsled and Skeleton Federation said his insistence on wearing the helmet was “inconsistent with the Olympic Charter and Guidelines on Athlete Expression” and therefore he wouldn’t be allowed to compete at the Games. Heraskevych wore the helmet in training, but the International Olympic Committee asked him to wear a different helmet in races. It offered concessions, such as wearing a black armband in remembrance of those killed in the war or letting him display the helmet once he was off the ice.
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The names of the Ukrainian athletes that were part of Heraskevych’s “memory helmet” were read aloud during the session Thursday, drawing an ovation.
Heraskevych’s season ended when he wasn’t allowed to compete in the Olympics, but his sliding…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/ukrainian-skeleton-racer-vladyslav-heraskevych-215540671.html
Author : TIM REYNOLDS
Publish date : 2026-03-26 21:55:00
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