Ukrainian skeleton athlete Vladyslav Heraskevych will not be allowed to wear a helmet during the 2026 Winter Olympics which honors fallen Ukrainian athletes.
The IOC reportedly banned Heraskevych from wearing the helmet while racing, pointing to Article 50.2 of the Olympic charter. The policy states that "no kind of demonstration or political, religious or racial propaganda is permitted in any Olympic sites, venues or other areas."
Heraskevych's helmet has images of more than 20 athletes and coaches. The photos also include tributes to figure skater Dmytro Sharpar, who competed with Heraskevych during the 2016 Winter Youth Olympics, weightlifter Alina Peregudova and hockey player Oleksiy Loginov. All three athletes died after the 2022 Russian invasion.
"I will compete for them. I race for them," Heraskevych said in a video on X.
"It is an honor for me to wear these images and to show the world the price Ukraine pays every single day in this bloody war. We remember our heroes, and we remember those whose lives were taken by Russia."
The Ukrainian skeleton athlete also shared thoughts on Instagram about the IOC's decision to ban his helmet, but not other potential violations. "For me, this is a matter of principle," Heraskevych said.
"I want to point out that athletes who made direct political statements, for example, American athletes who staged political demonstrations in arenas, or the Italian snowboarder who wore a Russian flag on his helmet, faced no sanctions, and the IOC doesn't consider that a violation, but they do consider it a violation to have painted images of Ukrainian athletes who died in war."
Per The Associated Press, the IOC offered the Olympian the opportunity to compete wearing a black armband as a compromise. (The IOC has previously banned armbands but is reportedly willing to make an exception for Heraskevych.) However, the Olympian declined the offer. Still, Heraskevych plans to wear his custom helmet again for training runs on Wednesday.
"I firmly believe we have not violated any IOC rules," he said. "So we will fight just the same, to the end."
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: IOC bans Olympian from wearing helmet honoring athletes killed in war