Kirsty Coventry shows fresh approach in the face of Olympic crisis while holding firm to the rules

MILAN – International Olympic Committee (IOC) president Kirsty Coventry navigated the first significant political test of her young reign in the dispute over Ukrainian skeleton racer Vladyslav Heraskevych’s helmet, showing a new approach to the challenge of limiting institutional damage in the face of crisis.

The decision to disqualify Heraskevych for competing in a helmet honouring athletes killed during Russia’s invasion placed Coventry at the centre of an early confrontation between the Olympic movement’s claim of political neutrality and the realities of a war that continues to intrude on sport.

The IOC’s ruling on Feb 12 drew criticism from Ukraine, with the country’s sports minister Matvii Bidnyi telling Reuters the decision was wrong.

Yet in her first Games in charge, Coventry – a 2004 and 2008 Olympic swimming champion from Zimbabwe who succeeded Thomas Bach last June – will hope to have contained a crisis that cut directly to the IOC’s credibility and its handling of geopolitical conflict.

The episode also offered an early window into how she intends to exercise authority compared with her mentor Bach.

Where the German often relied on dense institutional process and carefully layered diplomacy to defuse flashpoints, Coventry’s handling suggested a more personal, hands-on style – moving quickly to engage directly with the athlete while allowing the disciplinary machinery to run its course.

As much as the IOC tries to keep politics away from the Olympics, athletes do try to use the Games as a platform for political statements, and so it was again in Italy when Heraskevych announced he would race with his “helmet of remembrance”, despite repeated warnings from the IOC that such a move would violate Games rules and lead to disqualification.

Initially, the Ukrainian’s expulsion was a foregone conclusion, with only the timing to be determined – Feb 11 night or the morning of Feb 12 when Heraskevych’s skeleton event was scheduled to take place at the Cortina d’Ampezzo sliding centre.

The first woman and, at 42, the youngest person to lead the organisation in a century, Coventry was in the mountain town on Feb 11 as part of a planned trip to visit the venues there.

As the pressure built with the clock ticking down to the start of Heraskevych’s event, she held several discussions with her executive board, culminating in an emergency late-night meeting where the idea of a last-ditch intervention by Coventry took shape, sources told Reuters.

Unusually for the IOC, she had already struck a conciliatory tone, offering several concessions, including for Heraskevych to display his helmet before and after competing, wear a black armband during competition, and talk to the media with the headgear.

The approach marked a stylistic shift from the IOC’s long tradition of zero tolerance that saw past presidents summarily punish athletes who violated rules with swift disqualification and sharply worded announcements delivered at arm’s length through official channels.

By contrast, Coventry announced the Feb 12 decision in person with tears in her eyes.

Heraskevych appealed against his ban to the Court of Arbitration for Sport late on Feb 12 in a last-ditch effort to come back, demanding his reinstatement or at least a CAS-supervised run. The appeal was subsequently dismissed, ahead of the final two runs set for Feb 13.

“Clearly this was a baptism by fire for her,” Michael Payne, the IOC’s former long-time marketing chief, told Reuters.

“The fact is she, as a young (former) athlete, met the young athlete, face to face. She did not duck it or delegate it. She really went out of her way to try and personally find some compromise.”

Despite the softer tone, Coventry did not bend the rules, ultimately enforcing the disqualification in line with IOC regulations, of which she was the architect, having helped reshape them as the IOC’s Athletes’ Commission chief in 2021.

“If she had given in to the pressure, she would have opened Pandora’s box,” Payne added.

“You could fast-track to Los Angeles (hosts of the 2028 Summer Olympics) in two years from now and you would have set a precedent, and the Palestinians would comment on Israel, the Americans would comment on (Donald) Trump. It would be an open field day.

“If that field of play is not kept sacrosanct, the whole pack of cards comes tumbling down because you have created a platform for every message, no matter how sympathetic.”

Mr Bidnyi, however, described the IOC’s decision as “unjust”.

Ukraine managed to send a team of 46 athletes to the Games despite widespread damage to the country’s general and sports infrastructure since Russia’s invasion in 2022.

“Of course we are all not satisfied,” he told Reuters. “This decision is more harmful for the image of the IOC than for Heraskevych. It was a mistake for the IOC.” REUTERS