Disqualified Ukrainian skeleton athlete calls for debate on sport's lack of neutrality

Ukrainian skeleton athlete Vladislavs Heraskevičs was disqualified from the Milan–Cortina Winter Olympics in February this year following a decision by the International Olympic Committee (IOC). The reason was his plan to compete wearing a helmet depicting victims of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

In an interview with Latvian Television, the athlete shared what everyday life is truly like in Kyiv under wartime conditions.

Warning against Russian athletes' return

Heraskevičs stated that allowing Russian athletes back into international competitions would amount to normalizing the war. In his view, it is time to openly discuss the lack of genuine neutrality in sport, as well as how this issue affects athletes who, like him, come from a country suffering from Russian aggression.

During the conversation, the skeleton athlete emphasized that his case — disqualification over a symbolic gesture dedicated to the war's victims — reflects a broader problem within the international Olympic movement regarding political and moral neutrality in sports competitions.