Skeleton fans rally behind Heraskevych after disqualification over tribute helmet

VIDEO SHOWS: FANS LEAVING SKELETON RACE, COMMENTING ON RACE AND ON UKRAINIAN SKELETON RACER VLADYSLAV HERASKEVYCH'S DISQUALIFICATION RESENDING WITH COMPLETE SCRIPT  SHOWS: CORTINA D'AMPEZZO, ITALY (FEBRUARY 12, 2026)(REUTERS – Access all) 1. VARIOUS OF PEOPLE LEAVING SKELETON VENUE 2. SIGNS FOR SLIDING VENUE 3. (SOUNDBITE)(English) TRACY LIVESEY (LEFT) AND LESLEY STEWART (RIGHT) FROM KENT, UNITED KINGDOM, SAYING:     TRACY LIVESEY: “I think it's a shame he was disqualified. I think I support him.”     LESLEY STEWART: “I think so. There were athletes that were being remembered. Might be a bit of a loophole, but I think that was very respectful for him to do that for his fellow countrymen.” 4. (SOUNDBITE)(English) LUCE CREMAN (LEFT) AND ISA DEN OUDEN (RIGHT) FROM WAGENINGEN, NETHERLANDS, SAYING:     ISA DEN OUDEN: “If so many people in your country are dying, then it's more important than one Olympic medal.”     LUCE CREMAN: “I think it's very brave of him that he still wanted to pursue his ideal” 5. (SOUNDBITE)(English) HANZ-JOERG BUFF FROM ST MORITZ, SWITZERLAND, SAYING:     “We are doing sports here. And if he wants to do politics, he needs to go to the front and help his guys in the Ukraine.” 6. (SOUNDBITE)(English) ARNAUD ROLLET, FROM CHERBOURG, FRANCE, SAYING:     “Yeah, I can understand it because, yeah, you know what is going on in Ukraine. So, yeah, I think he was right.” 7. SIGN FOR THE SKELETON 8. MILANO CORTINA 2026 SIGN 9. (SOUNDBITE)(English) VALERY AND MATT JOHNSON FROM DETROIT, MICHIGAN, UNITED STATES, SAYING:     VALERY JOHNSON: “It was really great. That's the first time we've seen skeleton before and it was really fun.     MATT JOHNSON: “Yeah, it was cool to be so close. Even though they're very fast."     VALERY JOHNSON: “They're very fast. Yeah. We got a really good lot of really good photos.” 10. (SOUNDBITE)(English) LUCE CREMAN (LEFT) AND ISA DEN OUDEN (RIGHT) FROM WAGENINGEN, NETHERLANDS, SAYING:     LUCE CREMAN: “Yeah, we've never seen skeleton before.”     ISA DEN OUDEN: “Yeah, we've never seen it. And it went really fast. They went really fast down the track.” 11. PEOPLE POSING FOR SELFIE 12. PEOPLE LEAVING STORY: Most spectators leaving the sliding arena in Cortina D’ampezzo on Thursday (February 12) expressed support for Ukraine's skeleton racer Vladyslav Heraskevych who was disqualified from the skeleton competition at the Winter Games over his "helmet of remembrance" depicting athletes killed since Russia's invasion despite a personal appeal from the IOC president.     “If so many people in your country are dying, then it's more important than one Olympic medal,” said Isa den Ouden from the Netherlands     But Hanz-Joerg Buff from Switzerland said the Olympics were for sports.     “If he wants to do politics, he needs to go to the front and help his guys in Ukraine,” he said.     The 27-year-old, who had been training in Italy with the helmet showing two dozen dead compatriots, was barred and initially told he would be stripped of his accreditation minutes before competition was due to start at the sliding venue.     The IOC, however, later said that Heraskevych was allowed to keep his credentials and stay at the Milano Cortina Games after President Kirsty Coventry asked its Disciplinary Commission to "reconsider the withdrawal" of the athlete's accreditation. (Production: Christine Uyanik, Ilze Filks)

(The article has been published through a syndicated feed. Except for the headline, the content has been published verbatim. Liability lies with original publisher.)