Ukraine skeleton athlete Heraskevych appeals Games ban with CAS, wants supervised run

MILAN – Disqualified Ukrainian skeleton racer Vladyslav Heraskevych has appealed his Winter Olympics competition ban over a helmet depicting dead Ukrainian athletes with the Court of Arbitration for Sport, CAS said on Feb 12.

He is demanding his reinstatement or a supervised run, it said.

With the competition having started shortly after Heraskevych was disqualified in the morning on Feb 12, and the final two runs scheduled for the evening on Feb 13, he has asked CAS to supervise a run that would keep him in the competition pending a final decision by the court, CAS said.

“Mr Heraskevych argues that the exclusion is disproportionate, unsupported by any technical or safety violation and causes irreparable sporting harm to him,” it said in a statement.

“His application requests... that CAS reinstates him in the 2026 OWG (Olympic Winter Games) with immediate effect, or in the alternative, that the athlete perform a CAS supervised official run pending the final decision.”

CAS said it would review the matter with urgency given the circumstances.

The 27-year-old, who had been training in Italy with the helmet showing two dozen compatriots killed since Russia’s invasion, was barred and initially told he would be stripped of his accreditation minutes before competition was due to start at the sliding venue.

The IOC, however, later said Heraskevych remained banned from competing but was allowed to keep his credentials and stay at the Milano Cortina Games after president Kirsty Coventry asked its Disciplinary Commission to “reconsider the withdrawal” of the athlete’s accreditation.

Coventry had met Heraskevych early on Feb 12 in an effort to get him to compete without the specific helmet which the IOC said was violating its guidelines on athletes’ expression in the field of play. REUTERS