BBC report:

Ukrainian skeleton pilot Vladyslav Heraskevych has been banned from competing at the Winter Olympics for continuing to wear a helmet which features images of athletes killed during Russia’s invasion of his home country.

Heraskevych, who wore the helmet in all of his training runs before the competition began on Thursday, was told by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) on Tuesday it “does not comply” with the Olympic charter and said he was not allowed to wear it.

But on Wednesday he again wore the helmet to official training and told BBC Sport he believed he “has all the rights” to wear it.

My response to this:

Long has been the mantra that politics should stay out of sport, but:

• This has always been a nonsensical deceit
• It is highly debatable whether this case is especially political.

My first point is that just about every decision we make has a political dimension to it. Every time we spend money, we are making choices about where our money goes. This is a political decision. This is why I consciously try to avoid products from countries with dodgy regimes (like the USA and Israel), or dodgy environmental records (like BP and Nestlé), and Tory donors (like Warburtons and Sainsbury’s). Choosing renewable energy over fossil fuels is a political decision. I’m a hypocrite at times as sometimes it is just too awkward or inconvenient to make the right choice, but not worrying or caring about such provenance at all is the political choice of people who care little for other people or the planet (like Reform voters and Tories).

Second point, international sport is essentially political by using national entities to organise teams. Using national flags and anthems is political. Banning countries, like Russia and Belarus, is political. Allocating Olympic and World Cup hosts is political. Wearing three lions on the England football shirt is political. Wearing three feathers on the Wales rugby shirt is political.  Choosing sponsors (like the abominable Coca-Cola and Proctor & Gamble at these Olympics) is political.

In a competition where skeleton riders appear to be having an informal competition to have the most unique helmet designs, Vladyslav Heraskevych chose to honour fellow athletes, some of whom were friends and would likely have been at these Olympics had they not been killed in the current war with Russia.

This can be construed as a touching gesture to give these unfortunate victims of the war a presence at an event they might otherwise have been present at. This is not dissimilar to other athletes that have openly acknowledged missing loved ones already in these games.

Choosing to ban Heraskevych is therefore more of a political act that him wearing this helmet. The IOC have wilfully chosen to construe this act as contravening Rule 50 of their charter which says:

“No kind of demonstration or political, religious or racial propaganda is permitted in any Olympic sites, venues or other areas.”

They also cited rule 40.2 of the Olympic Charter, external, which states:

“All competitors, team officials or other team personnel in the Olympic Games shall enjoy freedom of expression in keeping with the Olympic values and the fundamental principles of Olympism, and in accordance with the guidelines determined by the IOC Executive Board.”

And yet they are allowing Trump’s fascist foot-soldiers, his notorious, trigger-happy ICE agents into Olympic sites, venues and other areas. And while every event is marked by ceremonies of overt national flag waving and the playing of often offensive anthems (like the U.S.A.’s and, you never know, maybe the British one). Thankfully they just play the tunes and save us the offensive lyrics.

In conclusion, I am appalled (but not surprised) at the IOC’s decision to bar this athlete from competing. Like all athletes present, he would have put countless hours into achieving a dream of competing at an Olympic Games. He was a medal contender too, by all accounts. (His ejection heightens the prospects of the leading Italian making the podium, something the IOC always likes to see. Just saying.)

The only good thing about this situation is that, like whenever anything is banned, it actually shines the spotlight on things even more. So let me finish by honouring the athletes that featured on Vladyslav’s helmet:

• Dmytro  Sharpar – figure‑skater (Heraskevych’s 2016 Youth Olympic Games teammate)
• Maksym  Halinichev – boxer
• Alina  Peregudova – teenage weight‑lifter
• Pavlo Ishchenko – boxer
• Oleksiy  Loginov – ice‑hockey player

Gone, but not forgotten.