Olympian Heraskevych: Forced to focus on fighting IOC, not on competitions

Ukrainian national skeleton athlete Vladyslav Heraskevych, who was banned by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) from wearing a helmet with portraits of deceased Ukrainian athletes at the XXV Winter Olympic Games in Milan-Cortina, said that using the helmet does not violate IOC rules and it deserves to be at the Olympic Games.

"This helmet deserves to be here, at the Olympic Games. The world should see our athletes. I do not believe that we are violating any IOC rules and I believe that we have the right to compete with this helmet," Heraskevych said in a comment to Suspilne Sport published on Tuesday.

He also said he was "forced to focus on the fight against the IOC, not on the competition" and because of this had less sleep than he needed. "Such are the realities of today, there is no one to blame but the IOC," the Olympian said.

"What is the violation of the IOC? There is rule 50, which prohibits the use of things that contribute to political, racial propaganda or discrimination. I believe that we do not have all this, and there is no more propaganda here than on the flags of other countries that they wear on the shoulders of their jackets or the inscriptions of the country. This is much more propaganda than this helmet. Therefore, I, frankly, do not understand the reason why we cannot participate in this helmet," Heraskevych said.

As reported, the IOC previously stated that the athlete wore a helmet in training and expressed his opinion on social networks, but will not be able to do this after the start of the competition on Thursday in order to avoid political interference in sports. IOC spokesperson Mark Adams referred to Rule 50.2 of the Olympic Charter, which prohibits any form of demonstration or