Ukraine’s Heraskevych has appeal for Winter Olympic reinstatement dismissed

Ukraine’s Vladyslav Heraskevych had his appeal dismissed as images on his helmet breached an Olympic ‘sacred principle’.Published On 13 Feb 2026⁠The Court of ⁠Arbitration for Sport on Friday dismissed an appeal by Ukrainian skeleton racer Vladyslav Heraskevych to be reinstated in the Milano Cortina Olympics after he was disqualified over his “helmet ⁠of remembrance”.The 27-year-old was removed from the Olympic programme on Thursday when the International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation jury ruled that imagery on the helmet — depicting athletes killed since Russia invaded Ukraine ⁠in February 2022 — breached rules on political neutrality.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemslist 1 of 4Zimbabwe pull off huge shock to beat Australia at T20 World Cuplist 2 of 4Africa must boycott the 2026 World Cuplist 3 of 4How India-Pakistan cricket relations went from bad to worse – a timelinelist 4 of 4India delighted, fans excited as Pakistan reverses T20 World Cup boycottend of list“The CAS ad Hoc division dismissed the application and found that freedom of expression is guaranteed at the Olympic Games but not on the field of play which is a sacred principle,” CAS Secretary-General Matthieu Reeb said, reading from a statement following an eight-hour ‌hearing.Heraskevych, who was seeking reinstatement or at least a CAS-supervised run, pending a decision by sport’s highest court in advance of the final two runs set for Friday evening, said he would look at his legal options now.“CAS has failed us. We will consider our next steps,” Heraskevych told Reuters.The case has dominated headlines in the first week of the Olympics, with the International Olympic Committee President Kirsty Coventry meeting the athlete on Thursday morning at the sliding venue ⁠in Cortina d’Ampezzo in a last-minute attempt to broker a compromise and ⁠have him race without the specific helmet.The IOC instead offered that he wear a black armband and display the helmet before and after the race, but said using the helmet in competition breached its rules on political protests and slogans ⁠in the field of play.