Ukrainian skeleton star goes from Winter Olympics to war zone in weeks

By Jack Bantock, Amanda Davies and Lizete Dos Santos for CNN

Updated 1158 GMT (1958 HKT) March 23, 2022

Ukrainian skeleton racer Vladyslav Heraskevych during a news conference in Kyiv ahead of the Beijing Games.

(CNN)Last month, Ukraine's Vladyslav Heraskevych was a skeleton racer hurtling his way around the Yanqing Sliding Centre at the Beijing Winter Olympics. Six weeks later, he was in a war zone handing out medical supplies as rockets were shot out of the sky over his head.

Heraskevych made headlines in Beijing when he held up a «No War in Ukraine» banner to protest the impending Russian invasion, a nightmare realized when the conflict began less than two weeks later. Since then — as has been the case for so many of his compatriots — the 23-year-old's life has been turned upside down. In the capital of Kyiv on the day of the invasion, Heraskevych had initially tried to enlist in the Ukrainian army but was unable to do so as all positions had been filled and he lacked military experience.Heraskevych slides during the fourth heat at the Beijing Games on February 11.Determined to do his part, Heraskevych returned to his father's hometown of Zhytomir from Kyiv on Monday, having driven a van 150 kilometers to hand out medical supplies and food.Read More«I was close to fire points, you can literally see rockets — Russian rockets — being destroyed by our Ukrainian air defense,» Heraskevych told CNN Sport's Amanda Davies.«It's very scary and absolutely crazy that now in the 21st century, in the middle of Europe, we can see this. We need to stop this war.»With many of the roads destroyed, what would typically have been a three-hour drive took more than seven. Regular checks from the Ukrainian military to inspect passport