After disqualification at the Winter Olympics, Ukrainian athlete receives US$200,000 donation

Vladyslav Heraskevych wears a helmet with Ukrainian athletes killed in the war during training at the Olympics REUTERS/Athit Perawongmetha Skeleton athlete Vladyslav Heraskevych received this Tuesday (17) a donation of more than US$200,000 from the owner of the Ukrainian football club Shakhtar Donetsk. The competitor was disqualified from the Winter Games in Milano Cortina before competing on Thursday (12) for wearing a helmet that depicted Ukrainian athletes killed (see who they were in the infographic) in the war with Russia. The amount is equivalent to the prize money that Ukraine pays to athletes who win a gold medal at the Games, reports Reuters. “Vlad Heraskevych was deprived of the opportunity to compete for victory at the Olympic Games, but returns to Ukraine a true winner,” Shakhtar president Rinat Akhmetov said in a club statement. See the videos that are trending on g1 Heraskevych is a skeleton athlete, a discipline in which the competitor descends a circuit face down on a sled and which requires the use of a helmet. The 27-year-old was disqualified when the International Bobsled and Skeleton Federation ruled that the images on the helmet violated rules on athlete expression at the Games. He then lost an appeal at the Court of Arbitration for Sport just hours before the final two descents of his race. Heraskevych had been allowed to train for several days with the helmet in Cortina d’Ampezzo, where the ice sports center is located. The day before the start of the competition, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) warned Heraskevych that he could not wear a helmet. The IOC suggested he wear a black armband and display his helmet before and after the race, but said wearing it during the competition would violate rules prohibiting political demonstrations in competition areas. Heraskevych also received praise from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Infographic shows athletes honored in helmets by Ukrainian banned from competing at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy. art/ g1

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