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What do you think of the announcement?
– Firstly, Heraskevytj is the greatest hero of the Olympic Games. There are so many athletes in the world who take a stand against different things in different ways, but don’t dare cross the line when things get uncomfortable. Or about boycotting competitions in which they don’t even take part.
– For the Ukrainian skeleton skater, it was more important to pay tribute to the athletes who died in the war than to compete himself, and for that he should have everyone’s respect.
But isn’t it possible to understand the helmet as a political message?
– Yes, but it is the International Olympic Committee that declares that the helmet is not a tribute, but politics. It is only the IOC’s own interpretations that determine when a message should be stopped. Although the IOC says it does not decide whether a message is political, in practice that is exactly what it looks like. Not least during the Summer Olympics there are many religious symbols, signs and words. They can certainly be interpreted as political messages. I could understand this decision if all equipment was kept completely clean during the Olympics. But, for example, Tre Kronor goalkeeper Jacob Markström pays tribute to his dead father on his helmet.
What do you say about IOC President Kirsty Coventry’s crying in connection with the meeting with Vladyslav Heraskevytj?
– It’s disgusting hypocrisy. She has made a decision that may be difficult, but there is no war in her country in which fellow athletes are being killed.
Read more:
The Ukrainian refused to remove his helmet with pictures of dead soldiers – it was washed
