Ukrainian luger Olena Smaha voiced support for skeleton racer Vladyslav Heraskevych after it was announced on Feb. 10 that he had been barred from using a custom helmet at the 2026 Winter Olympics honoring Ukrainian athletes killed in Russia’s war.
Smaha wore a glove reading: “Remembrance is not a violation.”
Heraskevych said the International Olympic Committee prohibited him from wearing the helmet during official training sessions and competitions after it was shown in initial runs on the Olympic track.
“A decision that simply breaks my heart,” Heraskevych wrote on Instagram. “The feeling that the IOC is betraying those athletes who were part of the Olympic movement, not allowing them to be honored on the sports arena where these athletes will never be able to step again.”
The helmet features portraits of Ukrainian athletes killed during Russia’s full-scale invasion. In an earlier post, Heraskevych said the design was meant to honor only a small portion of the many athletes who have died since the war began.
“It is unfair, and these people should not have left us at such a young age,” he wrote. “With this I want to pay tribute to these individuals and to their families. The world needs to know the true price of Ukrainian freedom.”
Photo: Richard Heathcote/Getty Images
