sports
February 14, 2026
Volodymyr Zelenskyy honours disqualified skeleton racer with order of freedom
The Ukrainian skeleton racer Vladyslav Heraskevych has been awarded the order of freedom by president Volodymyr Zelenskyy following the controversial decision to bar him from the Winter Olympics.
TL;DR
- Ukrainian skeleton racer Vladyslav Heraskevych was awarded the Order of Freedom by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
- Heraskevych was barred from the Winter Olympics for attempting to wear a "helmet of memory" that showed images of Ukrainians killed by Russia.
- The International Olympic Committee (IOC) deemed the helmet a violation of their athlete expression guidelines.
- An appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) was rejected, with the sole arbitrator bound by IOC rules.
- Ukraine's Minister of Foreign Affairs described the disqualification as a "moment of shame."
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