Banned Heraskevych accuses IOC of fuelling Russia’s propaganda
Sean Ingle
Vladyslav Heraskevych has accused the International Olympic Committee of doing Russia’s propaganda for them after he was barred from racing in the Winter Games because he wanted to wear a “helmet of memory” in honour of Ukraine’s war dead.
Speaking to journalists following the IOC’s decision, the 27-year-old was asked how he felt. “Emptiness,” he replied. “Yesterday was amazing training. I could be among the medalists in this event, but suddenly, because of some interpretation of the rules which I do not agree with, I am not able to compete.
“I was at many funerals when I was in Ukraine and it’s a truly terrible tragedy that young people at such a young age were killed for nothing,” he added. “Because of their sacrifice, we’re able to be here today, and I want to honour them, and I want to honour their families.”
Heraskevych also thanked the IOC’s president, Kirsty Coventry, for meeting him at 8.30am, an hour before the skeleton competition began, and for what he said were her kind words to him. But he added: “But, as I told her, this situation plays along with Russian propaganda and it does not look good. I believe it’s a terrible mistake that was made by the IOC.”
Key events
Beau Dure
Women’s Snowboard Halfpipe:
Chloe Kim is just awesome.
There’s no other way to describe that.
OK, we’ll try – backside 720, switch backside air, switch double cork 1080 …
A mere mortal, upon landing that trick, would take it easy the rest of the way. She didn’t.
Good luck beating that.
88.00
Standings after first run
Reminder: Only the best run of the three will count.
88.00 Kim (USA)
85.00 Ono (Japan)
77.50 Kudo (Japan)
73.00 Cai (China)
67.75 Wu (China)
No one else completed a run without a fall, so those scores really aren’t worth collecting here.
Women’s Curling Round Robin: Great Britain take a 2-0 lead against China heading into the fourth end. The Chinese team were just guilty of a “hog-line violation” the first one at these games. It’s a bit like a foot fault in tennis – the thrower must release their stone before crossing the green line.
“There was a lingering finger,” says BBC Sport’s Logan Gray on comms. I think I had a pint of Lingering Finger at Ilkley Beer Festival in 2008. Malty.
Women’s Snowboard Halfpipe: Chloe Kim is about to attempt her first run… Snoop Dogg is in the house too!
Women’s Snowboard Halfpipe: It’s still 0-0 in the curling but I’m distracted by the shrieks on my second screen as both Sena Tomita of Japan and Canada’s Elizabeth Hosking wipeout! Thankfully both are ok and will have two more attempts to pull off something special. Each competitor has three runs and only their best score counts. Pressure on!
Photograph: Hannah McKay/Reuters
Women’s Snowboard Halfpipe: Chloe Kim will have the chance to watch all of her fellow competitors strut their stuff before she heads out last in the first run: Follow along with Beau Dure here:
Running order:
1. Wu Shaotong (China)
2. Mitsuki Ono (Japan)
3. Bea Kim (USA)
4. Sena Tomita (Japan)
5. Elizabeth Hosking (Canada)
6. Queralt Castellet Ibanez (Spain)
7. Choi Goan (South Korea)
8. Cai Xuetong (China)
9. Rise Kudo (Japan)
10. Maddie Mastro (USA)
11. Sara Shimizu (Japan)
12. Chloe Kim (USA)
Women’s Curling Round Robin: Jen Dodds and her team have just got underway against China at the curling centre. Britain won gold in Beijing but only Dodds remains from that team, they are thus not considered favourites but are on record saying they are “dreaming of a medal”.
Steve Cram’s soothing North East of England tones waft out of the telly, we’re in safe hands folks. It’s 0-0 after three ends.
🥇 Gold for Germany in the Luge Team Relay!
They beat Austria into silver by half a second and Italy take the bronze. The Germans are the masters of this event, it’s a fourth consecutive gold for them. Team members and legendary sliders Tobias Arlt and Tobias Wendl also become eight-time gold medal winners in the process.
Luge Team Relay: Just Germany left to slide, Austria sit in Silver and Italy have just taken the Bronze position! Julia Taubitz to lead Germany off and she’s already the quickest out of the traps…
Luge Team Relay: The Polish team have a nightmare on the very first bit of the course, sliding sideways and hitting the ice with a thud which slows them right down. That mistake will basically cost them posting any sort of competitive time.
The Ukraine team slide down and sit in second position currently with a time of 3 mins 46 seconds. At the end of the run the team make a unified statement, taking a knee and raising their helmets above their heads. Quietly powerful.
Sean Ingle
To be a Olympic-class skeleton racer requires extraordinary guts and impeccable nerve, as the corners loom and then whoosh past at frightening speed. So did anybody really believe that Ukraine’s Vladyslav Heraskevych would lose his when the world’s eyes were upon him?
Not the International Olympic Committee, who flipped between threats of expulsion and sweet talk over the last fortnight, without coming close to changing his mind. And certainly not those of us who have spoken and messaged Heraskevych, and found a man utterly prepared to sacrifice his dream of winning a Winter Olympic medal for a higher purpose.
In public and private his message was the same: he would not back down. And if the IOC barred from competing in his “helmet of memory”, which commemorates some of the 600 Ukrainian athletes and coaches killed by Russian bombs and bullets since 2022, he would accept his fate.
And when the moment came, shortly before 8.30am on Thursday, he met it with a powerful but resolute message: “This is price of our dignity,” alongside a photo of his helmet.
For the IOC it must have been like watching a public relations car crash from the passenger seat. One that everyone knew was going to happen – and nothing could be done about it.
Women’s Snowboard Halfpipe: The USA’s Chloe Kim will be going for gold from around 18:30pm GMT. Our colleagues in the US have got a dedicated blog up and running as Kim attempts to bag an incredible, gravity defying third Olympic gold in a row after becoming the first woman to successfully defend the Olympic halfpipe title in 2022.
Join Beau Dure for all the buildup:
Luge Team Relay: Romania are the first team out of the traps. They get down with a few bumps that slow them right down, 3 mins and 49 seconds isn’t going to cut it (apparently). As ever the camerawork on these sliding events is fast, frenetic and fantastic. So many cutaways. It’s a bit like watching an Edgar Wright movie. Baby Luger?
Germany will be the last of the nine teams to go, they are the defending champs and the team to beat. Austria and Latvia could challenge them and China are an outside bet.
Luge Team Relay: Is just getting underway at the Cortina sliding centre. This event is an absolute riot, the crowds are packed in and cheering and we’ve not go to our first sliders yet.
The team consists of women’s singles, women’s doubles, men’s singles and men’s doubles. They set off at the top and slide down as fast as they can, when they reach the bottom they thwack a button which signals their team-mate at the top of the hill to get sliding. Imagine a university drinking boat race but with far fewer blokes in gilets from the home counties braying and drinking ale.
James Wallace
Thanks Tanya and hello everyone. I come armed with my kitchen broom and have donned my slipper socks to bring you all the action from Milano Cortina via my sofa and various watching devices. We’ve got curling, snowboard halfpipe and luge relay to get stuck into over the next few hours.
Tune in and join in on the email at the left flank of this page.
Ice hockey:
Canada have taken a 3-0 lead against Czech Republic, Bo Harvat slotting the puck after 37 minutes.
That’s all from me for today, Jim Wallace will carry you through to the close.
Ice hockey: With seven minutes of the second period left, Canada are 2-0 up against the Czech Republic. An entertaining flurry of sticks, shoulder pads, flying ice and heavy duty body hits.
Women’s 5000m speed skating: What a thrilling race! Lollobrigida crosses the line, squints at the clock, unzips her hood and grins to the rafters. Her second medal in less than a week.
Merel Conijn, who takes silver, goes across to hug her, Ragne Wilund, of Norway, wins bronze. In the margins of sporting history, Belgium’s Sandrine Tas throws her arms to the sky in despair, pipped into fourth at the last.
🥇 Francesca Lollobrigida takes gold in the Women’s 5000m speed skating
With one lap to go, Lollobrigida looks done, arms all over the place, she somehow staggers to the line – and she’s snatched it! By 0.10 seconds.
Women’s 5000m speed skating: after 3000m, Francesca Lollobrigida, gold medallist on Saturday, is on course for gold. Martina Sablikova, who had to withdraw from the same event after illness, is more than five seconds behind.
Women’s 5000m speed skating: From nowhere, Wiklund loses time in the final lap. She puts her head in her hands as she crosses the line and realises she hasn’t snatched the lead. Merel Conijn, who is now guaranteed a medal, cannot believe her luck, and covers her mouth in surprise.
One more pair to come: Italy’s Francesca Lollobrigida and Martina Sablikova of the Czech Republic.
Women’s 5000m speed skating: the penultimate pair of 3000m silver medallist Ragne Wiklund, and Canada’s Isabelle Weidemann, who was pipped at the post at Beijing four years ago, take to the ice
With five laps to go, Wiklund is in the lead and looking relaxed.
Women’s 5000m speed skating: much vocal excitement accompanies Dutch skater Merel Conijn as she circumnavigates the ice alongside Belgium’s Sandrine Tas.
The skaters are racing the clock, not each other,and can, says the commentator, help each other along the way. The coaches shout and point from the side of the ice and the whole thing looks completely exhausting.
Here’s the bell… and Conijn sprints round the bend and zips across the line first. She is now in gold medal position, with Tas in silver. Both skaters bend over, hands on knees, and remember to breathe.
Breezy Johnson gets engaged!
A sad-happy tale – Downhill champion Breezy Johnson crashed out of the Super G at the top of the mountain, but got engaged at the bottom!
“I mean, who doesn’t want to leave with a couple pieces of metal?” she said.
Women’s 5000m speed skating: With six skaters done and dusted, Belarusian Maryna Zuyeva, competing under a neutral flag, lies in first place. The large Dutch contingent in the audience wait nervously for Merel Conijn to take to the ice.
Men’s ice hockey: No-one has yet broken the 0-0 deadlock in the heavyweight game between the Czech Republic and Canada, teams loaded with NHL players…though as I type Canada score, only for the referee to disallow it.
Women’s 5000m speed skating: It’s two athletes at a time in this event, who must switch from inner to outer lane at the end of each lap to ensure they cover the same distance. Fastest athlete overall wins. The rink is 400 metres round, which leaves the competitors 12 and a half laps of agony.
The third pair are now on the ice: Nadezhda Morozova of Kazakhstan, in a natty blue hooded suit, and 20 year old German Maira Jasch. It’s a game of long strides, low crouches and looped arms.
Women’s 5000m speed skating: Time to zip back into our aerodynamic suits and return to Milan for the next medal event: the women’s 5000m speed skating.
The likely contenders include Italy’s Francesca Lollobrigida, who won the 3000m event on Saturday, the silver medallist in the same event, Norway’s Ragne Wiklund, and Canada’s Isabelle Weidemann, who was second at Beijing four years ago.
Steve Cram has such a soothing voice, yet has never read a CBeebies bedtime story.
For now, we have to settle for him interviewing victorious Team GB captain Bruce Mouat. “We are having a great time,” Moat says. “Our family and friends are still here, the German spectators are probably the loudest I’ve ever heard.”
Men’s team curling: The defending champions Sweden concede the game to Great Britain (6-3), who now have two wins from two in this round-robin set of matches. Sweden, who lost to Italy last night, retire to find some form.
In the other two round-robin games, Switzerland have defeated the USA 8-3, and things remain tight between Norway and Germany. Germany currently lead 4-3.
Norway still sit on top of the medal table
Europe dominate the top end of the medal table, with Italy taking full advantage of “home ice”:
1 🇳🇴 Norway 🥇 7 🥈 2 🥉 4 – Total: 13
2 🇮🇹 Italy 🥇 5 🥈 2 🥉 7 – Total: 14
3 🇺🇸 United States 🥇 4 🥈 6 🥉 3 – Total: 13
4 🇸🇪Sweden 🥇 4 🥈 3 🥉 1 – Total: 8
5🇨🇭 Switzerland 🥇 4 🥈 1 🥉 2 – Total: 7
Team GB are yet to get off the starting blocks, but Matt Weston has an excellent chance in the skeleton final tomorrow.
That medal table in full:
Curling: A reminder of what all the frantic brushing is for – the friction melts the ice and produces a thin layer of water which allows the heavy stones to slide more easily. It can also change the trajectory, the degree to which a stone curls.
The team with the stone closest to the centre (button) scores a point after each end, and gains one point for every stone closer to the button than the opponents stone.
It’s looking good for Team GB who have gone 6-2 ahead after seven ends.
Curling: Some fantastic Scandinavian beards on show from the Swedish quartet while the Brits are youthfully clean-shaven. At the moment, the rub of the green lies with the less hirsute nation. We’re still in the seventh end, and some vigorous brushing sends the latest British stone safely into the house. GB currently lead 4-2.
Curling: Time for a gentler pastimes, as we join Team GB in the men’s team curling event. The British quarter lead Sweden 4-2 and will take the hammer into the seventh end. Captain Bruce Moat, so disappointed in the pairs event, looks remarkably chilled
Co-currently, Germany, supported by chanting supporters, are leading Norway 3-2; while Switzerland lead the USA 6-2.
As the fallout continues over Vladyslav Heraskevych’s disqualification from the skeleton, an email from reader Charles Coull:
“IOC spokesperson Mark Adams said that the IOC could not become involved in conflicts and wars and that was why Vladyslav Heraskevych was banned from competing. He went on to say that bringing conflicting nations together through sport was the Olympics way of solving conflict. If that is the case why was Russia banned from Olympic competition for its unprovoked aggression in invading Ukraine?
“Vladyslav Heraskevych’s helmet simply commemorated those athletes killed by that act of unprovoked aggression which in itself was punished by the IOC in banning Russia from competition. Surely if Heraskevych’s simple act of modest and dignified remembrance in the face of an aggressor nation is a political statement then the IOC’s entirely correct action in banning an entire nation from competition for that same aggression is a political statement of significantly higher magnitude?
“It makes no sense whatsoever.”
Historian Bruce Berglund discusses the repercussions from that IOC ban on Russia, below.
🥇 Gold for Alessandro Haemmerle in the men’s snowboard cross
Wow! A thrilling final to the men’s snowboard cross, as Austria’s Alessandro Haemmerle comes through at the last to retain his title. Poor young Aidan Chollet of France goes from first to fourth in the last 23 metres.
Canada’s Eliot Grondin takes silver, and another Austrian, Jakob Dusek grabs bronze
That is one fun sport.
That is all from me today. But never fear, Tanya is here to take you through the rest of the afternoon.
In pictures: Our fantastic picture desk has collated these snaps from day six. Have a look.
Andy Bull
Skeleton: Great Britain’s Matt Weston is poised for the podium after setting the pace in the opening two runs of the men’s skeleton.
Weston posted a new track record of 56.21sec on his first run, with that time broken twice more before he again laid down a new marker of 55.88sec.
His teammate Marcus Wyatt sits in seventh place on a total time of 1:53.21, 1.12sec behind Weston and 0.66sec off the medals.
Vladyslav Heraskevych was banned about 21 minutes before the start of the event, so late the two British competitors, Matt Weston and Marcus Wyatt said they didn’t even find out about it until after they had finished.
“It’s just a shame that he’s missed out on a chance of being able to compete at an Olympics, which is very sad, said Matt Weston.
Beau Dure gets in touch to add some context to Jessie Diggins’ reaction after crossing the finish line in the cross-country skiing, women’s 10km interval start free:
Not sure how much this was shown globally, but the images on US TV of Jessie Diggins after crossing the finish line will surely be an indelible Olympic moment. She was crying out in pain and holding her ribs, which she bruised in her crash in the skiathlon. A teammate came over to support and knelt by her. Diggins finally got up soon after the last person who had a chance to knock her off the podium passed the finish line, and she melted into her teammate’s arms. We’re used to seeing cross-country skiers and biathletes collapse into the snow after the finish line, but this was on another level.
It’s easy to be cynical at times – and people in the USA are outraged over the judging in yesterday’s ice dance – but it’s hard to see something like that and not be moved.
My broadcast showed her grimacing but cut away quite quickly.
Snowboard: Quarter-finals in the men’s snowboard cross are under way. Austria’s Jakob Dusek wins the first heat and a photo-finish is needed to confirm that Aidan Chollet of France beats his compatriot Merlin Surget to sail into the semis.
Canada’s Nathan Pare is disqualified in the second heat after taking out Spain’s Lucas Eguibar Breton. The Canadian initially won the heat but French duo Jonas Chollet and Loan Bozzolo go through.
Italy’s Lorenzo Sommariva and Nick Baumgartner of the United States progress from the third heat and Canada’s Eliot Grondin and Austria’s Alessandro Haemmerle in the fourth.
Chris gets in touch via email regarding the IOC’s decision to ban Heraskevych.
The IOC seems determined to be on the wrong side of the Heraskevych situation. Couldn’t they at least have an ‘In Memoriam’ period at the Closing Ceremony – including ALL Olympians who have died since the last Games? Instead they’re penalising an athlete for having a conscience.
Zelenskyy condemns IOC decision to ban Heraskevych
Luke Harding
Volodymyr Zelenskyy has bitterly accused the IOC of playing into Russia’s hands by banning the Ukrainian athlete Vladyslav Heraskevych from wearing his “helmet of memory”, saying: “Sport shouldn’t mean amnesia”.
In a trenchant post on social media, Ukraine’s president said the Olympic movement should “help stop wars” rather than rewarding “aggressors”. He paid tribute to Heraskevych, who was banned from competing on Thursday an hour before the skeleton competition began. “We are proud of Vladyslav and of what he did. Having courage is worth more than any medal,” Zelenskyy wrote.
He added: “I thank our athlete for his clear stance. His helmet, bearing the portraits of fallen Ukrainian athletes, is about honour and remembrance. It is a reminder to the whole world of what Russian aggression is and the cost of fighting for independence. And in this, no rule has been broken.”
“It is Russia that constantly violates Olympic principles, using the period of the Olympic Games to wage war. In 2008, it was the war against Georgia; in 2014 – the occupation of Crimea; in 2022 – the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. And now, in 2026, despite repeated calls for a ceasefire during the Winter Olympics, Russia shows complete disregard, increasing missile and drone strikes on our energy infrastructure and our people.”
The IOC’s decision has caused widespread anger and outrage in Ukraine, where more than 600 athletes have been killed since Vladimir Putin’s full-scale invasion four years ago. Zelenskyy pointedly noted that they would not be able to take part in the Olympics or other international competitions – in contrast to 13 Russians who are “currently competing in Italy”.
Zelenskyy added: “They compete under “neutral” flags at the Games, while in real life publicly supporting Russian aggression against Ukraine and the occupation of our territories. And they are the ones who deserve disqualification.”
Kyiv’s mayor and former boxer Vitali Klitschko – who won gold in the 1996 Atlanta Olympics – said the IOC wanted a “perfect TV show”. He said: “The Olympic ideal is being lost in the cold calculations of the global sports business. When I think of my Olympic gold medal today, I don’t feel pride any more. I feel shame.”
Snowboard: The top 16 in the men’s snowboard cross quarter-finals have been confirmed.
Team GB’s Huw Nightingale failed to make it to this round but will compete in the mixed team event with Charlotte Bankes on Sunday.
Four Frenchmen have made the quarter-finals, but have ended up in the same two heats as one another (Aidan Chollet and Merlin Surget in heat 1 and Jonas Chollet and Loan Bozzolo in heat 2). This is the Chollet brothers’ first Olympic Games.
Nick Baumgartner, 44, of the United States is aiming for his first individual Olympic medal (he won mixed team gold four years ago in Beijing).
Italy are second in the medal table with five golds compared to Norway’s seven and lead in overall medal tally. Beau Dure asks whether ‘home ice’ has given the host nation an edge?
To an extent, a host-country boost is typical in the Olympics. The US shattered their medal records at Salt Lake City 2002. Canada set a record for gold medals in one edition of the Winter Olympics when they hosted in 2010, though that record has since been broken by Norway. South Korea and China won more medals as hosts in 2018 and 2022 than they ever had in any previous edition. (The 2014 Games in Russia can’t provide a solid point of comparison because of the pervasive doping issues involving the host country.)
Read the full feature below.
🥇🥈Sweden win one-two in women’s 10km interval start free
Frida Karlsson collapses as she crosses the finish line in the women’s 10km interval start free. Her time of 22:49.2 is not going to be beaten and she will take gold for Sweden. Her compatriot Ebba Andersson finishes second and Jessie Diggins of the United States just sneaks bronze ahead of Norway’s Astrid Øyre Slind.
Cross-country skiing: Frida Karlsson of Sweden has extended her lead in the women’s 10km interval start free. She is almost a minute clear of compatriot Ebba Andersson.
Banned Heraskevych accuses IOC of fuelling Russia’s propaganda
Sean Ingle
Vladyslav Heraskevych has accused the International Olympic Committee of doing Russia’s propaganda for them after he was barred from racing in the Winter Games because he wanted to wear a “helmet of memory” in honour of Ukraine’s war dead.
Speaking to journalists following the IOC’s decision, the 27-year-old was asked how he felt. “Emptiness,” he replied. “Yesterday was amazing training. I could be among the medalists in this event, but suddenly, because of some interpretation of the rules which I do not agree with, I am not able to compete.
“I was at many funerals when I was in Ukraine and it’s a truly terrible tragedy that young people at such a young age were killed for nothing,” he added. “Because of their sacrifice, we’re able to be here today, and I want to honour them, and I want to honour their families.”
Heraskevych also thanked the IOC’s president, Kirsty Coventry, for meeting him at 8.30am, an hour before the skeleton competition began, and for what he said were her kind words to him. But he added: “But, as I told her, this situation plays along with Russian propaganda and it does not look good. I believe it’s a terrible mistake that was made by the IOC.”
🥇Woods wins freestyle skiing gold for Australia in men’s moguls final after tie-breaker
What a twist! Australia’s Cooper Woods and Canada’s Mikaël Kinsbury score 83.71 in the men’s moguls final but Woods takes top spot due to the better score on his turns. Kingsbury wins silver and Japan’s Ikuma Horishima takes bronze with a score 83.44.
That is Australia’s first medal at these Games!
Freestyle skiing: Mikaël Kingsbury of Canada takes the lead with one athlete to go! He attacks his second run in the men’s moguls finals and scores a 83.71. Will the three-time medallist nab his second gold?
