The father and coach of Vladislav Geraskevich, and also the president of the All-Ukrainian Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation, spoke about a conversation with the head of the IOC, Kersty Coventry, before the disqualification of our skeleton player from the 2026 Olympics for the “memory helmet”. Mikhail Geraskevich noted that the removal of his son because of a helmet with the image of Ukrainian athletes killed by the Russian Federation is a blow to democracy “for the sake of his private interests, because of the sensual pressure of Russian sponsors.”.

According to the coach, Coventry appeared at the arena in Cortina d'Ampezzo on the morning before the first competitive races in skeleton and tried to persuade Vladislav not to go out on the track in a helmet with the dead athletes, who in recent days have spread all over the world's media.

“The newly elected IOC president tried to convince us that the demonstration of athletes killed by Russia would create chaos in the Olympic movement. That this is wrong and will interfere with the celebration of the Olympics. But it looked somehow strange, because the whole world saw this helmet,” Geraskevich Sr. told Suspilny..

“She suggested that I hold him at the start, Vlad would do the descent in some other helmet - it’s not clear which one, because Vlad is not adapted to it. And then I would give this helmet into Vlad’s hands. This was reminiscent of trade, of course, that it is unacceptable, because the memory of Ukrainian heroes is not for sale, one will never agree to this,” said the father.

Mr. Mikhail noted that Miss Coventry and all her assistants in the IOC forgot the history of the Olympics: “If you look at the sources of the reasons for the emergence of the Olympic Games, then this is the honoring of fallen heroes, warriors. And that’s why sword battles were invented to see who could run faster - everything that imitated the activity of a warrior on the battlefield. It was to honor fallen soldiers, the first purpose of the Olympic Games."

" I'm sorry that the IOC and its leader Miss Coventry, who is herself an Olympic champion, have forgotten history. And we know: whoever forgets history is apparently moving on in the wrong direction,” the functionary recalled.

But the Ukrainian federation and Vladislav’s team are not going to give up, because they are confident that they are right. Therefore, the next step is most likely the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne.

“We are so determined because Vlad’s honor was hurt, our many years of work were destroyed. This is not only about taxpayer funds that helped us in this activity.. We were in optimal shape, and this can be seen from the results of the last control training sessions. If you look at the athletes’ results, Vlad would be in the podium zone. It would be a fight for a medal,” Geraskevich Sr. is sure.

“This has all been crossed out, but the most important thing is that the IOC tried to cross out the memory of Ukrainian heroes. The IOC did not disqualify Vladislav, but disqualified Ukraine. We have unprecedented support from the President of Ukraine, the Verkhovna Rada, the Ministry of Sports, the NOC of Ukraine and soldiers. There is a lot of evidence on the Internet where soldiers from the line of contact expressed their support for Vlad.

We have the support of the Ukrainian people. This is a disqualification of democracy for the sake of their private interests, due to the sensual pressure of Russian sponsors,” concluded Geraskevich.

Let us recall that the IOC cynically suggested that Geraskevich wear a black armband to honor the memory of his compatriots. In response, the skeletonist put the organizers of the 2026 Olympics in their place, noting that he was not going to comply with the requirements.