IOC Rejects War Victim Memorial Helmet, Offers Compromise with "Armband"

by Park Pyunghee

Published 11 Feb.2026 08:29(KST)

At the Milan-Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics, Vladyslav Heraskevych of Ukraine's skeleton team has drawn attention for wearing a helmet bearing images of Ukrainian athletes who were killed in the war with Russia.

According to foreign media, on the 10th (local time), Heraskevych made a practice run at the Cortina sliding center in Italy wearing a so-called "memorial helmet," attracting attention. The helmet bears the faces of Alina Perehudova, a teenage Ukrainian weightlifter; boxer Pavlo Ishchenko; ice hockey player Oleksii Lohinov; actor and athlete Ivan Kononenko; diver and coach Mykyta Kozubenko; shooter Oleksii Khabarov; and dancer Daria Kurdel, among others.

Vladyslav Heraskevych of the Ukrainian skeleton team was practicing a run on the 10th at the Cortina Sliding Centre in Italy, wearing a helmet bearing the faces of Ukrainian athletes killed in the war with Russia. Photo by AP Yonhap News

Heraskevych said, "Some of the people depicted on the helmet were my friends," adding, "I kept my promise to maintain attention on the war through the Olympics."

However, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) notified Heraskevych that he would not be allowed to use the memorial helmet. The IOC judged that the memorial helmet violates Rule 50, paragraph 2 of the Olympic Charter, which states that "no kind of demonstration or political, religious or racial propaganda is permitted in any Olympic sites, venues or other areas."

The National Olympic Committee of Ukraine protested this decision and requested that the IOC approve the use of the memorial helmet. In a statement, the National Olympic Committee of Ukraine argued, "The helmet fully meets safety requirements and does not contain any advertising, political slogans, or discriminatory elements that would run counter to IOC rules," adding, "It was also confirmed during official training that it met the prescribed standards."

The IOC presented a compromise by allowing a "memorial armband" instead of the memorial helmet.

The IOC announced, "We have decided not to allow the helmet that Heraskevych intended to wear to honor Ukrainian athletes who died in the war with Russia," adding, "Instead, we will permit him to wear a memorial armband during competition." The IOC added, "This decision is a compromise," noting, "There have been cases in the past where armbands were prohibited, but we decided to make an exception in Heraskevych's case."