German Olympic Sports Confederation (DOSB) president Thomas Weikert has said that Ukrainian skeleton slider Vladyslav Heraskevych should accept the rules in his "helmet of memory" dispute with the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

Vladyslav Heraskevych, a skeleton sled racer, says he will wear a helmet showing images of Ukrainian athletes killed defending his country against Russia's full-scale invasion. International Olympic Committee officials say the move would violate rules designed to keep politics out of the Olympics.

The International Olympic Committee has barred a Ukrainian skeleton racer from wearing a helmet with images of fellow athletes killed in Russia's invasion.

As Ukrainian athletes prepare for the 2026 Winter Olympics, they will seek to boost the morale of their compatriots in Ukraine amid an ongoing war and a brutal winter.

The 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy, mark a historic moment for the Games. Not only because Italy is hosting for the first time since Torino 2006, but because these Olympics will be taking place in multiple locations, with venues scattered across the Italian Alps and Dolomites.

Some individual athletes from the banned countries will be permitted to participate in the Milano Cortina Winter Games

CORTINA D’AMPEZZO, Italy — Ukraine’s flag bearer during the Olympic opening ceremony plans to continue wearing a helmet that commemorates the lives of Ukrainian athletes lost since Russia’s invasion, despite a ban from the International Olympic Committee (IOC), which says it breaks Olympic rules on neutrality.

27-year-old Vladyslav Heraskevych shared that he had donned the helmet in an effort to speak out about Russia's war on Ukraine