Ukrainian skeleton racer Vladyslav Heraskevych speaks at UN

Heraskevych was shunned by the Olympics, then invited to the United Nations. He never expected that would happen.

The Ukrainian skeleton athlete was not allowed to compete at the Milan Cortina Games because of his plan to wear a helmet paying tribute to some of those killed following Russia’s invasion of his country. He spoke on a panel at the UN on Thursday detailing why he still believes he made the right decision.

“I think it’s important that we use this stage and talk about important things,” Heraskevych said at the opening ceremony of Change the World Model United Nations, an educational simulation for thousands of students. “Sometimes it feels like, in all these hours of training, we really forgot about the overall mission of sports. It is not only about the medals, but it’s also about values that we represent.”

Heraskevych was invited to share his story as part of a panel that also included Shiva Amini, a former women’s soccer player for Iran who now lives in exile in New York. Amini was granted asylum in Switzerland in 2017 after the Iranian government threatened sanctions after she was photographed playing soccer with men while not wearing the mandatory hijab, or headscarf. “We can save lives with sport,” Heraskevych said from the stage. “Sport gave people some hope.” The International Bobsled and Skeleton Federation said his insistence on wearing the helmet was “inconsistent with the Olympic Charter and Guidelines on Athlete Expression” and therefore he wouldn’t be allowed to compete at the Games. Heraskevych wore the helmet in training, but the International Olympic Committee asked him to wear a different helmet in races. It offered concessions, such as wearing a black armband in remembrance of those killed in the war or letting him display the helmet once he was off the ice. The names of the Ukrainian athletes that were part of Heraskevych’s “memory helmet” were read aloud during the session on Thursday, drawing an ovation.

Heraskevych’s season ended when he wasn’t allowed to compete in the Olympics, but his sliding career is not over. He intends to compete in at least some World Cup races this coming season, including one at the Cortina d’Ampezzo track that he was kept from racing on last month. He also has plans to stick around for the 2030 Olympics. The invite to the U.N. came as a surprise.

“It wasn’t part of my bucket list,” Heraskevych said, smiling. Heraskevych has been in constant motion since the Olympics. He and his father are leading a foundation for people and groups in Ukraine; one of their top priorities is providing generators, given that much of the country is dealing with blackouts and an at-best shaky power grid. He is trying to find more ways to honor the two dozen athletes and coaches who were immortalized on the helmet that he wasn’t allowed to wear in Olympic races, and he’s even trying to use his “real job” training as a physicist to find ways for his country to deal with the countless issues created by the war.

He also wants to try to expose more people to Ukrainian culture. He wore a vyshyvanka, a traditional embroidered shirt, on stage Thursday, and has plans to show off some of his country’s best cuisine around the world as well.

“My goal is to get support and get awareness for Ukraine,” Heraskevych said, “and not only about the war in Ukraine.” He has stopped many times to think over the past few weeks if his decision to insist on wearing the helmet - knowing that he was risking being barred from competing - was worth it. He insists that he has never regretted the decision.

“I believe I had the full right to wear this helmet, and to me, not wearing it would be like betraying of my principles,” Heraskevych said. “The people pictured on the helmet were victims of the war. It’s not right to betray them, too. ... No, these people sacrificed their lives. They were not afraid. It’s not right to betray them. So, I don’t feel any regret. I regret that I could not participate, but it was not my fault.”