Volodymyr Zelenskyy has awarded the Order of Freedom to Vladyslav Heraskevych, the Ukrainian skeleton racer barred from the Winter Olympics in Milano Cortina for planning to wear a commemorative helmet.
Heraskevych was excluded on Thursday after the International Olympic Committee (IOC) ruled that the helmet, which bore images of 24 Ukrainian athletes and children killed during Russia's invasion, breached its athlete expression guidelines. He flew to Munich after losing an urgent appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) on Friday.
In a statement, CAS said its sole arbitrator considered that the 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." The competition was won by Great Britain's Matt Weston.
President Zelenskyy told Heraskevych: "Remembrance is not a violation. Ukraine will always have champions and Olympians. 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."
Andrii Sybiha, Ukraine's foreign minister, said the disqualification would be remembered as "a moment of shame". Heraskevych himself wrote on social media: "He who has the truth on his side should prevail."
