‘I want to come back, to win gold’: banned Ukrainian determined to race for glory in helmet of memory

<p>On the eve of the fourth anniversary since Russia invaded Ukraine, Vladyslav Heraskevych has no regrets about sacrificing his Winter Olympic dreams in Milano Cortina</p><p>It is the image that will forever define the 2026 Winter Olympics: a Ukrainian skeleton racer, stoic and unbowed, holding a helmet bearing the faces of 24 athletes killed by Russia. Behind him, the icy track serves as a reminder of the dreams he sacrificed for a greater purpose.</p><p>It was an extraordinary act of bravery and defiance, which carried the tremors of Tommie Smith and John Carlos’s civil rights protest in 1968. But in his first in-depth interview since being disqualified from the Milano Cortina Games, Vladyslav Heraskevych makes one thing clear: he has unfinished business with the Olympics.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2026/feb/23/banned-ukrainian-vladislav-heraskevych-return-glory-helmet-memory-ioc-winter-olympics-2026">Continue reading...</a>