This is a commenting text. The writer is responsible for analysis and positions in the text.
What do you think of the announcement?
– First of all, Heraskevytj is the biggest hero at the Olympics. There are so many athletes around the world who take a stand in different ways against different things but don’t dare to walk the line when it gets uncomfortable. Or talking about boycotting competitions they are not even in.
– For the Ukrainian skeleton skater, it was more important to pay tribute to athletes who were killed in the war than to compete himself, and he should have all the respect for that.
But is it not possible to see the helmet as a political message?
– Yes, but it is the International Olympic Committee that states that the helmet is not a tribute but politics. It is only the IOC‘s own interpretations that determine when a message should be stopped. Although the IOC says that it does not decide whether a message is political, that is exactly how it turns out in practice. Not least during the Summer Olympics, religious symbols, signs and words abound. They can certainly be interpreted as political messages. I could understand this decision if all the equipment during the Olympics is kept completely clean. But for example, Tre Kronor goalkeeper Jacob Markström pays tribute to his dead father on his helmet.
What do you say about IOC President Kirsty Coventry crying in connection with the meeting with Vladyslav Heraskevytj?
– It is distasteful hypocrisy. She has made a decision that may be difficult, but it is not in her country that a war is going on where sports colleagues are killed.
Read more:
The Ukrainian refused to take off his helmet with pictures of dead soldiers – was washed
date:2026-02-12 11:20:00