Heraskevych on CAS Decision Regarding Memory Helmet: “They Wanted to Devalue Their Sacrifice, but Ended Up Devaluing Themselves”

Ukrainian skeleton athlete Vladyslav Heraskevych, disqualified by CAS over his “memory helmet,” announces charitable foundation to support families of deceased athletes, pledging to continue his fight for justice.

“They wanted to devalue their sacrifice”: Heraskevych announces foundation and pledge to continue fight after CAS decision

Ukrainian skeleton athlete Vladyslav Heraskevych issued a statement following the decision of the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), which upheld his disqualification from the 2026 Olympic Games over the “memory helmet.”

“They wanted to devalue their sacrifice, but they devalued themselves. Despite the CAS decision, I sincerely believe I committed no violations alleged by the IOC. I will continue to fight for my rights with my legal team, and I strongly believe we will achieve justice. The situation in international sport is currently very complicated. Now, I want to focus on the Paralympic Games, which begin immediately after the Olympics. Unfortunately, Russia was allowed to participate under its national flags and symbols at the Paralympics.

Members of the Russian Olympic team include former military personnel. That means yesterday they were killing Ukrainians in Ukraine, and tomorrow they will continue, spreading Russian propaganda internationally. We must not allow this.”

The Ukrainian athlete also announced the creation of a charitable foundation to support the families of deceased athletes.

“The whole world is talking about Ukraine now not because of me, and not because of my act, but because of the athletes depicted on my helmet. Their voices are so strong that they cannot be silenced. That is why I am convinced we must support the families of these athletes not just in words, but in action.

This is why we have started organizing fundraising for the families of these fallen athletes. The goal is to establish a stable, ongoing foundation to help the families of all deceased athletes.”