The Daily Populous Sunday February 15th, 2026 night edition
Authored by theguardian.com and submitted by phillygirllovesbagel

The Ukrainian skeleton racer Vladyslav Heraskevych has been awarded the order of freedom by president Volodymyr Zelenskyy following the controversial decision to bar him from the Winter Olympics.

Heraskevych flew to Munich after losing his appeal against his exclusion at the Milano Cortina Games for wanting to wear a “helmet of memory’ in competition. “Remembrance is not a violation,” Zelenskyy told him. “Ukraine will always have champions and Olympians.

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“But above all, Ukraine’s greatest asset is Ukrainians – those who cherish the truth and the memory of the athletes killed by Russia, athletes who will never compete again because of the Russian aggression. Thank you for your stance, your strength, and your courage. Glory to Ukraine.”

Heraskevych was excluded from the Games on Thursday after he was told he had contravened the International Olympic Committee (IOC) athlete expression guidelines by wanting to wearing the helmet, which showed the images of 24 Ukrainian athletes and children killed by Russia during its military invasion.

An urgent appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, which he hoped would allow him back into a competition that was won by Great Britain’s Matt Weston, was refused on Friday. Cas’s sole arbitator said she had no choice to reject the appeal because she was bound by rules in the IOC athlete expression guidelines, which prohibit athletes from expressing their views on the field of play.

“The sole arbitrator considers these guidelines provide a reasonable balance between athletes’ interests to express their views, and athletes’ interests to receive undivided attention for their sporting performance on the field of play,” Cas said in a statement.

Andrii Sybiha, the Ukraine minister of foreign affairs, said Heraskevych’s disqualification would be remembered by future generations as “a moment of shame”. “He who has the truth on his side should prevail,” Heraskevych posted on social media on Saturday morning.

SuperiorTuba on February 14th, 2026 at 19:19 UTC »

This would sound so much cooler if I didn't know that "Skeleton" was an Olympic sport.

elisart on February 14th, 2026 at 16:49 UTC »

Oh now THAT I love! Well done, son. We were all with you and appreciate who you were honoring.

yarash on February 14th, 2026 at 16:49 UTC »

Good. To disqualify someone for honoring the fallen dead, but not the invading country that murdered them is ridiculous.