Skeleton player of the Ukrainian national team Vladislav Geraskevich began his performance at the 2026 Winter Olympics in a special helmet.

The athlete went to an official training session wearing protective equipment with black and white photographs of athletes who died as a result of Russia's invasion of Ukraine..

" This helmet depicts some of the athletes who have died in the last four years.. Some of them were also members of the Olympic movement, the Olympic family. Some are simply children caught in Russian shelling. These were people who had been closely associated with sports all their lives, cheered for us, were our friends.

What will be the reaction if they ban me from competing in this helmet We don’t know yet, but we are ready to fight for the right to compete in this helmet. These people fought for us, some of them on the front lines, and we have no right to give up so easily. We are ready to go to the courts, CAS - anywhere. I don't consider this a violation of any rules. There is, as everyone understands, no advertising, no beneficiary. Therefore, we will stand our ground,” the words of the 27-year-old skeleton athlete are reported by Suspilne Sport..

It is worth noting that in his attempts Geraskevich showed the fifth and third results. Vladislav was one of two standard bearers of the Ukrainian team at the opening ceremony of the 2026 Olympics.

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Earlier, Geraskevich said that the IOC asked Ukrainian athletes not to organize protests against the war at the 2026 Olympics.