Ukrainian skeletonist Vladyslav Heraskevych, who was expelled from the Olympic Games in Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo because of a helmet with portraits of killed Ukrainian athletes, received a financial donation of 200,000 dollars (over four million crowns).
The amount was donated to him by Ukrainian billionaire Rinat Akhmetov, owner of Shakhtar Donetsk football team and the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol, to help him continue his career and Heraskevych could continue to defend the interests of his country.
“Vlad Heraskevych was denied the opportunity to compete for victory at the Olympic Games, yet he returns to Ukraine as a true winner,” Akhmetov said in a statement. “The respect and pride he has earned among Ukrainians by his actions is the highest reward. At the same time, I wish him to have enough energy and resources to continue his sports career, as well as to fight for truth, freedom and the memory of those who gave their lives for Ukraine,” he added. The money will be paid to the twenty-seven-year-old skeletonist by Akhmetov’s charitable foundation.
Heraskevyč wore a helmet with portraits of athletes killed during the Russian invasion of Ukraine in training and, despite the International Olympic Committee’s ban, he wanted to have it in the competition as well. The IOC expelled him from the games, saying that this would mean a violation of the rule of the Olympic Charter, which prohibits political expressions.
