Skeleton pilot Heraskewytsch back in Kyiv

Skeleton pilot: IOC becomes Russia’s accomplice

More and more Russian athletes returned to the international arena while Ukrainians continued to live in a humanitarian catastrophe caused by Russian shelling, Heraskevych wrote. The International Olympic Committee is essentially making itself an accomplice by playing along with Russian propaganda. He also wrote, “Despite the power outages, home is still the best place.”

The 27-year-old was disqualified from the Winter Games in Italy shortly before the start of the skeleton races because he did not want to do without his helmet, which was banned by the IOC. The head protection shows the images of more than 20 athletes who died as a result of the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine.

In an urgent procedure, the International Court of Arbitration for Sports (Cas) confirmed the decision of the responsible world association IBSF. Heraskewytsch had only recently confirmed that, in his opinion, he had not committed any of the violations the IOC accused him of. The IOC and later also the Cas had referred to the rules of the Olympic Charter. This restricts the expression of opinions by athletes at the Olympic competition venues and at ceremonies, and political messages are prohibited.