“The scale of the tragedy in our country is impossible to comprehend. How much pain and how many bright people have been lost,” wrote Geraskevich, who was removed from the 2026 Olympic Games because of the “memory helmet.” “Not a single medal is worth life, not a single medal is worth the memory of our people. Eternal memory to the fallen.”
On the same day, Geraskevich, together with his father Mikhail, who is also his coach, held a meeting in Munich with the President of Ukraine Vladimir Zelensky, informed in OP.
The head of state awarded the Ukrainian skeleton athlete the Order of Freedom.
“Ukraine will have both champions and Olympians. But the main thing that Ukraine has are Ukrainians. Those for whom the truth and memory of the athletes and sportswomen who were killed by Russia and who will never again be able to take part in sports competitions because of Russian aggression are important,” he wrote Zelensky on Facebook, publishing a video from the meeting.
On the helmet of Geraskevich, because of which a scandal arose at the 2026 Olympic Games, portraits of 22 Ukrainian athletes and sportswomen were depicted who were killed by the aggressor country of the Russian Federation.
The athlete demonstrated it to the president.
“What is most important is that now the whole world is really talking about these athletes depicted on this helmet. And despite their death, they are now drawing attention to Ukraine. They are uniting around Ukraine. And this is really something very special,” Geraskevich noted.
Memory is not ruined.
I got along with the Ukrainian skeleton athlete, member of the national Olympic team of Ukraine Vladislav Geraskevich and my father, coach of the Ukrainian skeleton team Mikhail Geraskevich. Presenting Vladislav with the Order of Freedom.
In Ukraine there will be… pic.twitter.com/zMTBZBdKQQ
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Volodymyr Zelenskyy (@ZelenskyyUa) February 13, 2026
Context
On February 9, Geraskevich announced that he plans to perform in a helmet with a photo of Ukrainian athletes killed by the Russians at the 2026 Olympics in Italy. The IOC did not allow him to wear this helmet in official training or Olympic competition.
The Ukrainian noted that the day before the Italian athlete competed in a helmet with a Russian flag on it, and “there was no reaction.”
Instead of a “helmet of remembrance,” the IOC allowed Geraskevich to wear a black mourning armband during the competition, calling it a compromise. Geraskevich called the decision unfair, saying that honoring the memory of the dead is not political propaganda. Despite the ban, he went to training wearing a “memory helmet”.
On February 12, the first Olympic races with the participation of Geraskevich were supposed to take place. However, on the same day, the Ukrainian was disqualified because his helmet allegedly did not comply with the rules.
The Ministry of Sports reported that Ukraine will appeal the decision to disqualify the skeleton athlete.
On February 12, Geraskevich filed an appeal with CAS demanding that he be allowed to compete at the 2026 Olympics. However, on February 13, the Court of Arbitration for Sport rejected it.
