In brief
Ukrainian skeleton athlete Vladyslav Heraskevych faces disqualification from the Winter Olympics after refusing to remove his helmet that depicts fellow athletes killed in the war with Russia. The helmet features over 20 names, including friends and comrades, highlighting a contentious intersection of sports and personal grief as the athlete seeks to honor their memory amid Olympic regulations.
Ukrainian skeleton slider Vladyslav Heraskevych's disqualification from the Winter Olympics over his helmet depicting fellow athletes killed since Russia's full-scale invasion is the Games' biggest controversy so far.
Heraskevych was barred from the men's skeleton in Milan-Cortina earlier this week after he refused to stop wearing it, and on Friday his appeal was denied.
He has said those featured on his helmet include teenage weightlifter Alina Perehudova, boxer Pavlo Ishchenko, and ice hockey player Oleksiy Lohinov, adding that some of them were his friends.
More than 20 athletes appear on the helmet in total - here's more on each of them.
The controversy deepens as discussions around the role of athletics in times of war and how athletes can express personal grief conflicts with international sports regulations.
}
