‘Remembrance is not a violation’ — third Ukrainian athlete barred from wearing helmet at Olympics
Oleh Handei, a Ukrainian short track speed skater, said on Feb. 11 that he will not be allowed to wear his custom helmet at the Olympic Games in Milan because it is inscribed with a line of Ukrainian poetry.
Handei is the third Ukrainian Olympian whose helmet has been barred from competition on the grounds of “politicization.”
The International Skating Union informed Handei of the helmet ban a few days before the start of the Winter Olympics, the athlete told the Ukrainian outlet Suspilne Sport. He was told he failed the inspection due to his helmet bearing a “political slogan.”
“I have an inscription on my helmet by Lina Kostenko: ‘Where there is heroism, there is no final defeat,'” Handei said.
“They banned it, saying that it was a political slogan, that it was about war, that it was not allowed. I translated it word for word for them — no, it’s not a political slogan. These are just motivational words for me, for my team, and for my country.”
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has banned two other Ukrainians from wearing their helmets at the 2026 Games.
Kateryna Kotsar, a Ukrainian freestyle skier, said the IOC disqualified her helmet for the inscription “Be Brave like Ukrainians.” Skeleton racer Vladyslav Heraskevych was barred from wearing a helmet that honors Ukrainian athletes killed in Russia’s war.
The IOC maintains that the Olympic Charter explicitly bans the “politicization of sport.”
Handei, however, said that Kostenko’s poetry is “not about politics.”
“A person whose words I respect, whom I follow, where there is no hint of war. It’s not allowed. I tried to argue — they made it clear to me that it was better not to do so,” Handei said.
Heraskevych, whose helmet was prohibited for depicting portraits of Ukrainian athletes killed in Russia’s full-scale invasion, criticized the IOC for hypocrisy in a post on social media. Heraskevych pointed out that Israeli skeleton racer Jared Firestone was allowed to participate in the Opening Ceremony wearing a kippah with the names of the 11 Israeli athletes and coaches killed in the terrorist attack at the 1972 Munich Olympics.
“In other words, the athlete literally placed the memory of the fallen on his head to honor them,” Heraskevych said. “I honestly don’t understand how these two cases are fundamentally different. The IOC rules are the same for opening ceremonies, medal presentations, and competition venues. Why such treatment towards Ukrainians?”
Oleksandr Syrskyi, commander in chief of Ukraine’s Armed Forces, also expressed support for the athletes’ tributes on social media.
“Remembrance is not a violation,” he wrote above a photo of Heraskevych’s helmet.
Ukraine’s Vladyslav Heraskevych wears his “memorial helmet” during the skeleton men’s training session the 2026 Winter Olympic Games in Cortina, Italy on Feb. 11, 2026. (Tiziana Fabi / AFP via Getty Images)
Hundreds of Ukrainian athletes and coaches have been killed by Russia’s all-out war, and hundreds of sports facilities have been destroyed by Russian missile and drone attacks.
While the Russian and Belarusian national teams are banned from the Olympic Games, athletes from both countries are allowed to compete in individual events under a “neutral” status. Still, many Russian athletes who compete as “neutral” participants in international competitions have ties to the Kremlin or have expressed support for the war against Ukraine.
“There are many provocations from Russia, from ‘neutral’ athletes,” Handei said. “There are threats, certain manipulations, attempts to talk, to communicate.”
Handei also expressed support for Heraskevych’s memorial helmet and his public defiance of the IOC.
“I hope he doesn’t change his position and his words, because we have to fight. And as long as we fight, we can win.”
read also
We need to stop calling Ukrainians resilient
Take a moment to imagine this: In the depths of the coldest winter in years, a neighboring country decides to destroy your country’s infrastructure. Why? Your neighbor wants your land, but it’s struggling to win on the battlefield. Your neighbor has spent years trying to grind you down to surrender. Every now and then, it strikes an apartment block, a railway line, or a children’s hospital. Now, it focuses on destroying what modern life depends on — and suddenly, electricity, internet, heating,
