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Ukrainian Heraskevych loses appeal against Olympics disqualification / Photo: © AFP
Ukrainian Heraskevych loses appeal against Olympics disqualification
Ukrainian skeleton racer Vladyslav Heraskevych on Friday lost his appeal against his disqualification from the Winter Olympics for wearing a helmet adorned with pictures of the Ukrainian war dead.
Heraskevych was disqualified from the Milan-Cortina Games on Thursday after refusing to ditch the helmet that features pictures of Ukrainian sportsmen and women killed since Russian forces invaded Ukraine in 2022.
Gestures of a political nature during competition are forbidden under the Olympic charter and the IOC said Heraskevych had failed "to adhere to the IOC athlete expression guidelines".
The Court of Arbitration for Sport said it had "denied an application by Skeleton athlete Vladyslav Heraskevych (Ukraine) against the International Bobsleigh & Skeleton Federation (IBSF) and the International Olympic Committee (IOC)".
CAS Secretary-General Matthieu Reeb told reporters after the hearing in Milan that the court had "found that freedom of expression is guaranteed at the Olympic Games, but not on the field of play, which is a sacred principle."
Heraskevych said before the CAS decision that he was "thankful for the opportunity to speak and we were treated equally at the hearing room and arguments were heard," adding that "I hope truth will prevail and still I know that I was innocent."
The decision to disqualify Heraskevych drew a stinging response on Thursday from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who said the "Olympic movement should help stop wars, not play into the hands of aggressors".
A. Williams--BTZ
