Skeleton racer Heraskevych displays images of athletes killed in Ukraine war on his helmet

Ukrainian skeleton athlete Vladyslav Heraskevych trained on Monday at the Milano-Cortina Games in a helmet with images of compatriots killed during the war in Ukraine, delivering on a promise to use the Olympics to keep attention on ​the conflict.

“Some of them were my friends,” Heraskevych, who is his country's flag-bearer, told Reuters of the portraits after his training session at the Cortina Sliding Center.

Visible on the helmet are teenage weightlifter Alina Perehudova, boxer Pavlo Ischenko, ice hockey player Oleksiy Loginov, actor and athlete Ivan Kononenko, diving athlete and ​coach Mykyta Kozubenko, shooter Oleksiy Habarov and dancer Daria Kurdel, he told Reuters.

The 26-year-old said the International Olympic Committee had contacted Ukraine's Olympic Committee over his helmet.

"It's still ⁠being processed," he said.

Heraskevych, who held up a “No War in Ukraine” sign at ‍the Beijing Olympics days before ⁠Russia’s 2022 invasion, had said he intended to ​respect Olympic rules prohibiting political demonstrations at venues while still ensuring Ukraine’s plight remained visible during the Games.

Rule 50.2 of the Olympic Charter states: "No kind of demonstration or political, religious or racial propaganda is permitted in any Olympic sites, venues or other areas."

Neither the IOC ⁠nor the Ukrainian committee had any immediate comment on Heraskevych's case.

Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, athletes from Russia and its ally Belarus were largely barred from international sport, but the IOC has ‍since backed their gradual return under strict conditions.

Moscow and Minsk say sport should remain separate from international conflicts.

There have been a number of incidents over the years where athletes