Ukraine's Vladyslav Heraskevych was barred from competing in the Milan/Cortina Olympics over a dispute concerning a helmet he wanted to wear in the skeleton event to honour athletes killed in the war with Russia.

Ukraine's Vladyslav Heraskevych has been banned from competing in the Olympic skeleton event over a helmet dispute, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has said. Heraskevych wanted to wear a helmet commemorating Ukrainian athletes who died in the war with Russia in the competition which starts later Thursday.

The Ukrainian Olympic athlete Vladislav Heraskevych displays the memorial helmet that resulted in his ban.

The first week in Milan-Cortina was supposed to be about clean edges, fast tracks, and perfect landings, but the story of these Winter Games is already far messier. From the sliding track in Cortina to the jump hills of Predazzo and the cauldron at San Siro,

Ukraine’s Vladyslav Heraskevych had his appeal dismissed as images on his helmet breached an Olympic ‘sacred principle’.

As Ukrainian athletes prepare for the 2026 Winter Olympics, they will seek to boost the morale of their compatriots in Ukraine amid an ongoing war and a brutal winter.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he was "proud" of Vladylsav Heraskevych, adding, "Having courage is worth more than any medal."

Ukrainian skeleton athlete Vladyslav Heraskevych will not competeafter refusing a last-minute plea from the IOC to use a helmet other than the one that honors more than 20 of his country's athletes and coaches killed in the war with Russia.

A Ukrainian athlete has been disqualified from the Winter Olympics over his insistence on wearing a helmet honoring people killed in his country's war with Russia