The International Olympic Committee showed disrespect and pressure against the Ukrainian athlete, while not taking proper measures against the aggressor country, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry believes.
Foreign Minister Andrei Sibiga reacted harshly to the decision of the IOC to remove the Ukrainian skeleton player Vladislav Geraskevich from the start at the Olympics-2026 because of the “memory helmet” with images of 22 Ukrainian athletes who died in the war, informs the portal PromPolitInform.
According to the Foreign Minister, there is no violation of rules or ethics in honoring the memory of colleagues.
“The IOC has banned not a Ukrainian athlete, but its own reputation. Future generations will remember this as a moment of shame,” Sibiga wrote on the social network Kh.
He said that the International Olympic Committee showed disrespect and pressure against the Ukrainian athlete, while not taking proper measures against the aggressor country. According to the minister, Russia has violated the Olympic truce three times in recent decades, implemented a large-scale state doping program, and, according to Ukraine, is involved in the death of 650 Ukrainian athletes and coaches and the destruction of about 800 sports facilities.
“It is the Russians who should be banned, not honoring their victims. None of them is “neutral,”” Sibiga said.
The Minister also thanked Geraskevich for his principled position and courage.
On February 12, the IOC disqualified the Ukrainian athlete before the first race at Cortina d’Ampezzo. The reason was called the inconsistency of the helmet with the principles of neutrality of equipment and the prohibition of political or other messages during the competition. Geraskevich appeals the decision to the Sports Arbitration.
At the same time, the media reported that the Italian snowboarder was allowed to perform with elements of Russian symbols on equipment, despite the formal ban on the symbols of the aggressor state at the 2026 Games.
Фото – instagram/heraskevychvladyslav
