The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) on Friday denied an urgent appeal by Vladyslav Heraskevych after Olympic officials and the sport's international federation removed him from the men's skeleton start list for planning to race in a "helmet of memory" honoring Ukrainians killed in the war.
The case tested the limits of athlete expression during competition at the 2026 Winter Olympics.
CAS said its sole arbitrator found limits in the International Olympic Committee's athlete expression guidelines "reasonable and proportionate," emphasizing that freedom of expression is protected at the Olympics but not "on the field of play" during competition.
The helmet, which displayed portraits of Ukrainian athletes who lost their lives in the war, could be shown in other settings, such as mixed zones, press areas or on social media, and noted that Heraskevych wore it during training runs, CAS said.
The ruling left intact actions taken by the International Bobsleigh & Skeleton Federation (IBSF) following a Feb. 10 decision by the IOC, which CAS said was not challenged in the application and "remains in force."
The IBSF jury withdrew Heraskevych from the men's skeleton event with immediate effect on Feb. 12, and that the CAS process lasted just over 24 hours from filing to a final decision.
Heraskevych, speaking after the hearing, said his disqualification came shortly before the start of the event, leaving no realistic way to race, and criticized what he called inconsistent enforcement compared with other permitted tributes at these Games.
He pointed to U.S. figure skater Maxim Naumov displaying a photo of his late parents, Italian snowboarder Roland Fischnaller having a small Russian flag image on his helmet and Israeli skeleton athlete Jared Firestone wearing a kippah with the names of athletes and coaches killed at the 1972 Olympics in Munich.
IOC spokesman Mark Adams said those cases were not rule violations because of how and where the items were displayed.
IOC President Kirsty Coventry told reporters the disqualification was justified under the IOC's expression guidelines because Heraskevych insisted on bringing the tribute onto the field of play.
CAS said it was unfair to withdraw Heraskevych's Olympic accreditation in these circumstances and supported the IOC's decision to restore it, even as the athlete traveled from the Olympic area to Milan and then to Munich, where he reportedly met with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and was presented with Ukraine's Order of Freedom.
The case drew support statements from Olympic-related groups.
The World Olympians Federation said the IOC athlete expression guidelines provide opportunities to mourn and express personal views in mixed zones, on social media, and in interviews, and said it supported consistent rule enforcement after the IBSF decision to withdraw the athlete from the start list.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Jim Thomas ✉
Jim Thomas is a writer based in Indiana. He holds a bachelor's degree in Political Science, a law degree from U.I.C. Law School, and has practiced law for more than 20 years.
© 2026 Newsmax. All rights reserved.