Ukrainian Skeleton Racer Who Was DQ'd Over Helmet Reportedly Gets $200K Gift

Ukrainian skeleton racer Vladyslav Heraskevych had his Winter Games come to an abrupt and controversial end last week when he was disqualified before even competing over the helmet he decided to wear in the event.

Heraskevych, 27, had images of over 20 athletes and coaches on his helmet who had been killed in the Ukraine-Russia war. The International Olympic Committee disqualified him over a rule that states “no kind of demonstration or political, religious or racial propaganda is permitted in any Olympic sites, venues or other areas."

On Tuesday the Associated Press reported that Heraskevych has received a gift of $200,000, the amount Ukraine awards athletes for winning gold medals, from Rinat Akhmetov, who owns Ukrainian football club Shakhtar Donetsk.

“Vlad Heraskevych was denied the opportunity to compete for victory at the Olympic Games, yet he returns to Ukraine a true winner," Akhmetov said in a statement.

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy had this to say about Heraskevych the day he was disqualified: “I thank the flag bearer of our national team at the Winter Olympics, Vladyslav Heraskevych, for reminding the world of the price of our struggle. This truth cannot be inconvenient, inappropriate, or called a ‘political demonstration at a sporting event.’

“It is a reminder to the entire world of what modern Russia is. And this is what reminds everyone of the global role of sport and the historic mission of the Olympic movement itself—it is all about peace and for the sake of life. Ukraine remains faithful to this. Russia proves the opposite.”

Heraskevych had appealed his disqualification but it was denied last week by the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

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