CAS rejects Heraskevych's appeal against Olympics skeleton ban

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Ukrainian skeleton racer Vladyslav Heraskevych speaks at a press conference at the Ukrainian Consulate in Milan, on the sidelines of the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic games. Heraskevych was disqualified from the competition because he insisted on wearing a helmet with photos of Ukrainian athletes who were killed in Russia's war of aggression. Peter Kneffel/dpa

The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has rejected Ukraine's Vladyslav Heraskevych's appeal against his exclusion from the 2026 Winter Olympics skeleton competition by the ruling body IBSF.

The slider was banned based on International Olympic Committee (IOC) rules over a dispute concerning a helmet he wanted to wear in the event to honour athletes killed in the war with Russia.

The case was somewhat symbolic because the skeleton competition started on Thursday and was due to end later Friday.

The court said in a statement following an emergency ruling that the sole arbitrator appointed for this matter "whilst fully sympathetic to Mr Heraskevyc's commemoration, is bound by rules in the IOC Athlete Expression Guidelines."

The arbitrator considers that these guidelines "provide a reasonable balance between athletes' interests to express their views, and athletes' interests to receive undivided attention for their sporting performance on the field of play."

Heraskevych had argued that "the exclusion is disproportionate, unsupported by any technical or safety violation and causes irreparable sporting harm to him."

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