Vladyslav Heraskevych

Vladyslav Mykhailovych Heraskevych (; born 12 January 1999) is a Ukrainian skeleton racer who has competed since 2014. He is the first Ukrainian skeleton racer to qualify for the Winter Olympics.

Career His father, Mykhailo Heraskevych, trains Heraskevych. He began competing in 2014. Previously, he tried boxing.

In February 2016, he participated at 2016 Winter Youth Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway, where he finished 8th. A month earlier, he was 17th at the Junior World Championships in Winterberg, Germany. The following year, he achieved 10th place at the Junior Worlds in Sigulda, Latvia.

On 24 February 2017, he became the first-ever Ukrainian athlete to compete in skeleton at World Championships. He finished 24th at 2017 World Championships in Königssee, Germany.

On 10 November 2017, he debuted in Skeleton World Cup and was 27th in Lake Placid, United States. That season he participated in 7 of 8 races and ranked 24th in World Cup classification.

On 15 January 2018, it was announced that Ukraine received one quota spot for the men's skeleton competition which was the first ever for Ukraine in this sport. At the Olympics, he finished 12th (placing 7th in the final run) in what was regarded in Ukraine as an enormous success. After such a success, Ukrainian Public TV company UA:First started to broadcast Skeleton World Cup for the first time in the history of Ukrainian television.

In the next World Cup season, Heraskevych started very well by finishing 9th in Sigulda, Latvia. But, he wasn't successful at the European Championships, where he failed to qualify for the second run. At the 2019 World Championships, he finished 14th.

Before the Olympic 2021–22 season, Heraskevych showed relatively stable results, reaching twice Top-10 and qualifying for all second runs in the races he took part in. On 31 December 2022, Heraskevych achieved his new World Cup best finish by ranking 6th in Latvian Sigulda.

In 2022, Heraskevych was nominated for his second Winter Games in Beijing. At the Games, he displayed a sign stating "No War in Ukraine" (in reference to the 2021–2022 Russo-Ukrainian crisis), a possible violation of Rule 50 of the Olympic Charter that bans all political displays and demonstrations. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) stated that Heraskevych would not face repercussions for the sign, calling it a "general call for peace". In the competition, he finished in the 18th position.

Four days after the end of the Olympic Games, the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine started. Heraskevych helped deliver food and supplies to the Ukrainian people.

Heraskevych was one of Ukraine's flag bearers for the 2026 Winter Olympics' Parade of Nations.

2026 Olympic helmet disqualification

While training for the 2026 Games, Heraskevych wore a with 24 images of Ukrainian athletes killed in the Russian invasion. Those depicted included members of the military who were killed in action, such as shooter Oleksiy Habarov and hockey player Oleksiy Loginov, as well as civilians who died in air strikes like weightlifter and dancer . The helmet was designed by Ukrainian artist Iryna Prots.

The IOC forbade him from using the helmet in competition, citing Rule 50 of the Olympic Charter, and offered to let him wear a black armband instead. IOC spokesman Mark Adams explained the committee wished to "concentrate on the athletes' performance and sport on the field of play" while separating the Games from "all types of interference". With no resolution by the day of the competition on 12 February, a jury of the International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation ruled to disqualify him from the Games.

Following his disqualification, Heraskevych said that "other athletes in the same situation were able to compete, and they didn't face any sanctions". Zelenskyy later awarded the Order of Liberty to Heraskevych. Skiers Dmytro Shepiuk and Kateryna Kotsar raised their gloves to show the phrase "UKR heroes with us" and "Freedom of memory" after their respective events; Kotsar had also been ordered to remove a pro-Ukrainian phrase from her helmet. The Ukrainian luge team kneeled and raised their helmets following the team relay.

Heraskevych appealed the verdict to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), which dismissed the case. In a statement, CAS said the arbitrator considered the limits imposed by the IOC's Athlete Expression Guidelines on athletes' freedom of expression on the field of play "reasonable and proportionate, considering the other opportunities for athletes to raise awareness", and could not override them. Heraskevych's lawyer expressed disappointment at the ruling, saying CAS "upheld the decision that an athlete could be disqualified from the Olympic Games without actual misconduct, without a technical or safety threat, and before the start".

Awards and decorations

Order of Liberty (2026)

Career results Winter Olympics Year Event Rank 2018 Pyeongchang, South Korea 12 2022 Beijing, China 18 2026 Cortina, Italy DSQ

World Championships Year Event Rank 2017 Königssee, Germany 24 2019 Whistler, Canada 14 2020 Altenberg, Germany 14 2021 Altenberg, Germany 13

European Championships Year Event Rank 2018 Innsbruck, Austria 15 2019 Innsbruck, Austria 15 2020 Sigulda, Latvia 11 2021 Winterberg, Germany 11 2022 St. Moritz, Switzerland 10

Skeleton World Cup Rankings Season Rank Points 2017–18 24 404 2018–19 9 944 2019–20 13 896 2020–21 13 880 2021–22 16 816 Results