Boxing champion Vladimir Klitschko tears into Olympic chiefs and says he is ‘ashamed’ of his gold medal after fellow Ukrainian is thrown out for wearing helmet honouring war dead
Vladimir Klitschko has lashed out at Olympics chiefs after a Ukrainian athlete was controversially kicked out of the Winter Games for wearing a helmet honouring victims of the Russian invasion.
The former boxing champion said he felt great ‘shame’ at his gold medal as he hit out at the IOC for banning the commemoration and its attempts at ‘protecting its image’.
Vladyslav Heraskevych, 27, was expelled on Thursday after he vowed to continue wearing the helmet during the competition.
The skeleton racer, who was his nation’s flag bearer at the Milano Cortina opening ceremony last week, trained in the evocative helmet on Monday, disclosing that ‘some of them were my friends’.
His ban, which has turned into one of the most controversial episodes in Olympic history, came less than an hour before he was due to compete as a serious medal contender.
Klitschko, who won gold in the super heavyweight division at Atlanta 1996, told Bild: ‘Taking part is everything. For Russian and Belarusian athletes, but for the killed Ukrainian athletes, not even a commemoration is allowed.
‘The IOC claims it’s not about politics, but only about sport. This has nothing to do with the Olympic Games anymore – it’s political games.’
The former heavyweight world champion, whose brother is mayor of Kyiv, added: ‘The IOC is not protecting neutrality, it is protecting its image. The faces of the Ukrainian athletes who gave their lives for freedom are ‘too political’ for your perfect TV show. Olympic idealism is being lost in the cold calculation of the global sports business.’
Vladyslav Heraskevych (pictured) has been banned from competing at the Winter Olympics after he refused to back down from wearing a helmet that featured images depicting victims of the Russian invasion of Ukraine
Vladimir Klitschko said he felt great ‘shame’ at his gold medal as he hit out at the IOC
Mykhailo Heraskevych (left), Vladyslav’s father and coach, was devastated upon learning of the news
‘When I think about my Olympic gold medal today, I no longer feel pride, but shame.’
Volodymyr Zelensky handed the Olympian a state award on Thursday, as he lashed out at Olympic chiefs for ‘playing into the hands of the aggressor’.
Zelensky lavished praise on the skeleton athlete, saying he ‘acted with dignity’ and his ‘courage is worth more than any medal’.
In a post on social media, he wrote: ‘The Olympic movement should help stop wars, not play into the hands of aggressors.
‘We are proud of Vladyslav and of what he did. Having courage is worth more than any medal.’
Hours later, Zelensky said he was bestowing Heraskevych a state award ‘for selfless service to the Ukrainian people, civic courage, and patriotism in defending the ideals of freedom and democratic values.’
‘Vladyslav, you acted with dignity!’ Ukrainian Sports Minister Matviy Bidny wrote on social media.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) is braced for significant backlash to their draconian application of their rules around no political messaging.
The IOC said Heraskevych contravened the Olympic Charter – the rules and bylaws for the organisation of the Games – and informed him on Tuesday that he would not be allowed to compete in the helmet.
IOC president Kirsty Coventry (pictured) choked up as she faced reporters, explaining that ‘she really wanted Heraskevych to race’ before stating that it had been an ’emotional morning’
Heraskevych took to Instagram to make one last plea not to be disqualified hours before Olympic bosses made the announcement
The Ukrainian Olympic team will take the case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (Pictured: Heraskevych’s dad and coach, Mykhailo)
And his ban was confirmed on Thursday following a last-ditch attempt by Olympic chiefs including IOC president Kirsty Coventry to persuade Heraskevych, who has family fighting on the frontline, to not wear the helmet.
The 27-year-old had his accreditation stripped but it was later reinstated, allowing him to stay in the Olympic village for the remainder of the Games.
Coventry choked up on Thursday as she told reporters that it had been an ’emotional morning’.
‘I was not meant to be here, but I thought it was really important to come here and talk to him face to face. No one, especially me, is disagreeing with the messaging, it’s a powerful message, it’s a message of remembrance, of memory,’ the IOC president said.
‘The challenge was to find a solution for the field of play. Sadly, we’ve not been able to find that solution. I really wanted to see him race. It’s been an emotional morning.
Heraskevych’s immediate response was to post on social media: ‘This is the price of our dignity.’
The Ukrainian later said: ‘I am disqualified from the race. I will not get my Olympic moment.
‘They were killed, but their voice is so loud that the IOC is afraid of them. I told Coventry that this decision plays along with Russia’s narrative.
‘I sincerely believe that it is precisely because of their sacrifice that these Olympic Games can take place at all today.
‘Even though the IOC wants to betray the memory of these athletes, I will not betray them.’
In heartbreaking scenes, Heraskevych’s father and coach, Mykhailo, was also seen perched on a mound of snow crying, after learning of the news.
The IOC released a lengthy statement, which said: ‘Having been given one final opportunity, skeleton pilot Vladyslav Heraskevych from Ukraine will not be able to start his race at the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games this morning.
‘The decision followed his refusal to comply with the IOC’s guidelines on athlete expression. It was taken by the jury of the International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation (IBSF) based on the fact that the helmet he intended to wear was not compliant with the rules.
‘The International Olympic Committee has therefore decided with regret to withdraw his accreditation for the Milano Cortina 2026 Games.
‘Despite multiple exchanges and in-person meetings between the IOC and Mr Heraskevych, the last one this morning with IOC President Kirsty Coventry, he did not consider any form of compromise.
In a statement released on Thursday morning, the IOC said it would permit Heraskevych to wear the helmet in training runs but not during competition because it did not comply with the IOC’s rules on athlete expression
Vladyslav Heraskevych (pictured) has been banned from competing at the Winter Olympics after he refused to back down from wearing a helmet that featured images depicting victims of the Russian invasion of Ukraine
‘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.
‘Mr Heraskevych was able to display his helmet in all training runs. The IOC also offered him the option of displaying it immediately after the competition when going through the mixed zone.
‘Mourning is not expressed and perceived in the same way everywhere in the world. In order to support athletes in their mourning, the IOC has put in place multifaith centres in the Olympic Villages and a place of mourning, so that grief can be expressed with dignity and respect. There is also the possibility to wear a black armband during competition under certain circumstances.
‘During the Olympic Games, athletes are also offered a number of opportunities to mourn and express their views, including in the media mixed zones, on social media, during press conferences and in interviews.’
The IOC added: ‘The Guidelines on Athlete Expression were the result of a global consultation in 2021 with 3,500 athletes from all around the world. They have the full support of the IOC Athletes’ Commission and Athletes’ Commissions from International Federations and National Olympic Committees.
‘Mr Heraskevych has been supported by the IOC for the last three editions of the Olympic Winter Games. Each time he was an Olympic scholarship holder. Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the IOC also set up a solidarity fund for Ukrainian sport to support the athletes’ preparations for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.’
In a tense press conference, IOC spokesperson Mark Adams defended the move to ban Heraskevych.
He said: ‘There are according to the Red Cross, 130 conflicts going on at any one time,” he said. “We can’t have them all in competition with each other at the Games.
Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelensky has criticised the IOC for banning Vladyslav Heraskevych
Heraskevych had arrived to speak to members of the media with the helmet. He said: ‘Even though the IOC wants to betray the memories of these athletes, I will not betray them’
‘The field of play could become a field of expression, you could see it would lead to chaos. We cannot have athletes have pressure put on them by political masters to make expressions during competition.
‘We do our best to create a level playing field, I make no apologies for that.’
Heraskevych had pre-empted his disqualification with a final demand to the IOC to relent.
Taking to social media just two hours before the start of the skeleton competition at 9.30am local time on Thursday, he made it clear he would not cave in, leaving the IOC in the fiendish spot of having to relax their position on political messaging, or eject a Ukrainian hero.
He wrote: ‘I never wanted a scandal with the IOC, and I did not create it. The IOC created it with its interpretation of the rules, which many view as discriminatory.
‘Although this scandal has made it possible to loudly speak about Ukrainian athletes who have been killed, at the same time the very fact of the scandal distracts a tremendous amount of attention away from the competitions themselves and from the athletes participating in them.
‘That is why I propose to end the scandal. I ask: 1. Lift the ban on the use of the “Memory Helmet”. 2. Apologise for the pressure that has been put on me over the past few days. 3. As a sign of solidarity with Ukrainian sport, provide electric generators for Ukrainian sports facilities that are suffering from daily shellings.
‘I very much hope for a response before the start of the skeleton competitions.’
Heraskevych later expanded on his disappointment to reporters, adding: ‘It’s hard to say or put into words. It’s emptiness.
‘I do not get my moment at this Olympics, despite I would say pretty good results in the training runs. I really believe we could be among the medallists today and tomorrow, but we will not be able to race.
Heraskevych’s immediate response was to post on social media: ‘This is the price of our dignity’
‘I believe we didn’t violate any rules. In the press conference, it was told to me that I violated Rule 50. Here we have rules regarding expression, so it’s not Rule 50. I see big inconsistencies in decisions, in the wording, in the press conferences of the IOC, and I believe it’s the biggest problem that it’s inconsistent.
‘Also what [is] painful is that it looks like discrimination because athletes were already expressing themselves.’
Heraskevych intends to appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, but that will prove largely academic on the basis that the competition has now started.
Double Olympic champion Lizzy Yarnold, speaking on the BBC, said the IOC owe him an apology. She said: ‘It’s actually quite shocking. Lots of the sliding community have been in contact straight away.
‘There is shock and confusion. Taking away his accreditation means he now needs to leave the Olympic Games.
‘The reaction to something which was an act of memorial, incredibly emotionally important to him. I’m quite shocked. I think the IOC owe him an apology. I think this was the wrong decision. He was also a medal contender for the race. He’s a phenomenal athlete.’
