At the 2026 Winter Olympic Games, Ukrainian athletes have been barred from wearing helmets that honour Ukraine’s truth, memory and resilience.
⛷️ Oleh Handei was prohibited from wearing a helmet featuring the words of Ukrainian poet Lina Kostenko: “Where there is heroism, there is no final defeat.”
🛷 Vladyslav Heraskevych, a skeleton racer, has been told he will be disqualified if he competes wearing his “helmet of memory”, honouring Ukrainian athletes and children killed by russia’s war.
🎿 Kateryna Kotsar, a freestyle skier, was informed she could not wear her helmet inscribed with the words: “Be brave like Ukrainians.”
This is not politics.
This is remembrance.
This is identity.
While Ukrainian athletes are told they are displaying ‘propaganda’, russia continues to weaponise sport – exploiting international competitions and the language of “neutrality” to legitimise its illegal, genocidal war against Ukraine and sanitise its global image.
When sporting bodies like the International Olympic Committee silence memory and truth in the name of “neutrality”, they do not remain neutral – they take a side. No rule should erase the faces, names, or courage of those killed, or the words that inspire Ukrainians everywhere.
The Australian Federation of Ukrainian Organisations stands firmly with Ukrainian athletes who refuse to forget.
🕯️ Memory is not a violation. Silence is.
#StandWithUkraine #HelmetOfMemory #2026WinterOlympics #SportAndValues #RememberTheFallen #RussiaIsATerroristState
Images: athletes’ instagram accounts
