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Ukrainian Lugers Kneel in Protest Hours After Teammate Is Disqualified Over Helmet

Brigid Kennedy|
Ukrainian lugers made their intentions clear by holding their helmets in the air.
Ukrainian lugers made their intentions clear by holding their helmets in the air. | Richard Heathcote/Getty Images

The Ukrainian luge team committed a silent but unmistakable act of protest following their run in the team relay on Thursday afternoon, when all six athletes knelt to the ground and held up their helmets in solidarity with disqualified countryman Vladyslav Heraskevych.

Heraskevych, one of Ukraine's flag bearers and a slider for the men's skeleton event, was nixed from competition on Thursday morning when he refused to change his helmet from one that featured the faces of athletes and coaches killed in the ongoing Russo-Ukrainian war to one the International Olympic Committee deemed permissible.

The IOC had warned Heraskevych ahead of the event that disqualification was on the table, but the 27-year-old athlete stood his ground and was therefore unable to compete. He was believed to have a strong chance at medaling.

The country's luge team, which finished sixth in the day's relay event, later signaled their dissatisfaction with the governing body's decision—a gesture that did not go unnoticed by Heraskevych:

"Our biathletes after their performance in the mixed relay at the 2026 Olympic Games," he wrote on X (formerly Twitter), according to an X-provided translation. "We're rooting for our team!"

This morning, shortly after the IOC's ruling was made official, the slider also posted a photo of himself and his helmet with the text: "This is the price of our dignity."

"Having been given one final opportunity, skeleton pilot Vladylsav Heraskevych from Ukraine will not be able to start his race at the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games this morning," the IOC wrote in a Thursday statement, released around 3 a.m. ET.

"The decision followed his refusal to comply with the IOC’s Guidelines on Athlete Expression. ... The IOC was very keen for Mr. Heraskevych to compete. This is why the IOC sat down with him to look for the most respectful way to address his desire to remember his fellow athletes who have lost their lives following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The essence of this case is not about the message, it is about where he wanted to express it."

Ukrainian spectators on the ground in Italy were disillusioned by the IOC's ruling.

“I’m very upset,” Natalia Kharchuk, from Lviv, told Sports Illustrated's Pat Forde. “I’m very disappointed about this. He didn’t break any rules. He just showed the honor about the athletes who were killed by Russia. And this just shows a big corruption in this committee. I think that this is very, very, very bad decision about this. I had a big hope that he will participate. I want to cry."

Added Mykhailo Heraskevych, the slider's coach and father, who was photographed in tears that morning: “The International Olympic Committee destroyed our dreams,” he said, per The Associated Press. “It’s not fair.”

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Brigid Kennedy
BRIGID KENNEDY

Brigid Kennedy is a contributor to the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. Before joining SI in November 2024, she covered political news, sporting news and culture at TheWeek.com before moving to Livingetc, an interior design magazine. She is a graduate of Syracuse University, dual majoring in television, radio and film (from the Newhouse School of Public Communications) and marketing managment (from the Whitman School of Management). Offline, she enjoys going to the movies, reading and watching the Steelers.

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