Ukrainian skeleton athlete claims IOC banned his war victim helmet

Ukrainian skeleton athlete Vladyslav Heraskevych claims the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has banned his helmet featuring images of war victims, a decision he says has 'broken his heart'.

The 26-year-old athlete had planned to wear the helmet during training and competitions at the Olympic Games, in order to draw attention to the issue.

The IOC has not publicly confirmed the ban, but Heraskevych took to Instagram to express his disappointment: 'The IOC has banned me from using my helmet during official training and competitions. This decision simply breaks my heart. The IOC's decision ignores athletes who are part of the Olympic movement, showing them no respect on the sports field, where these athletes will never set foot.'

Heraskevych told Reuters that many of those depicted on the helmet are athletes, including teenage weightlifter Alina Peregudova, boxer Pavlo Ishchenko, and hockey player Oleksiy Loginov, some of whom are his friends.

According to Heraskevych, an IOC representative, Toshio Tsuruna, visited the athlete village and informed him of the ban, citing 'rule 50'.

Olympic Charter rule 50.2 states that 'no form of publicity or demonstration, or political, religious or racial propaganda, is permitted in Olympic venues, sites or other areas.'

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky thanked Heraskevych for 'reminding us of the price of our struggle'.