Heraskevych wore a helmet during training at the Milano Cortina Winter Olympic Games featuring images of people killed in the war in his homeland. Many of them were athletes, including European kickboxing champion Karyna Bakhur, teenage weightlifter Alina Perehudova, Youth Olympic biathlete Yevhen Malyshev, and ice hockey player Oleksiy Loginov.
The Olympic Charter stipulates that no kind of demonstration or political, religious, or racial propaganda is permitted at Olympic venues. According to the International Olympic Committee, the athlete’s helmet contained a political message. As Heraskevych refused to remove the helmet, he was disqualified before the competition.
“We respect the purpose of the Olympic Charter to protect the Games and athletes from political influence and to ensure equal conditions for all participants. At the same time, the interpretation that honoring victims of an aggressive war constitutes a political message is misguided,” said Kristo Tohver, Secretary General of the Estonian Olympic Committee. He emphasized that the issue is not about rules, but about the values we carry within us.
“According to the Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, more than 650 Ukrainian athletes have been killed in the war. This is not merely a number – it represents hundreds of lives and dreams cut short. It is sad that in the world we live in, mourning one’s compatriots can be treated as a political action. Grief is not propaganda. Our role is to keep alive the memory of those whose voices have been silenced by war,” said Tohver.
“We are in ongoing discussions with the International Olympic Committee. The most recent meeting took place this week together with the other Baltic Olympic Committees, and we are demanding an explanation from the IOC regarding its decision — both legally and morally,” Tohver confirmed.