CORTINA D’AMPEZZO, Italy — For about one minute Wednesday, Vladyslav Heraskevych had a break from thinking about the war back home in Ukraine, his friends and other athletes who have died in that conflict and his fight to pay tribute to them at the Winter Olympics. He had the Cortina Sliding Centre’s mile-long track and 16 curves to worry about.

Vladyslav Heraskevych's helmet commemorates over 20 Ukrainian athletes and coaches killed in the war with Russia.

As Ukrainian athletes prepare for the 2026 Winter Olympics, they will seek to boost the morale of their compatriots in Ukraine amid an ongoing war and a brutal winter.

German Olympic Sports Confederation (DOSB) president Thomas Weikert has said that Ukrainian skeleton slider Vladyslav Heraskevych should accept the rules in his "helmet of memory" dispute with the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

A WINTER Olympian has been banned from wearing an anti-Russia helmet with images of Ukraine war victims. Ukrainian skeleton racer Vladyslav Heraskevych was told by the International Olympic

27-year-old Vladyslav Heraskevych shared that he had donned the helmet in an effort to speak out about Russia's war on Ukraine

The 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy, mark a historic moment for the Games. Not only because Italy is hosting for the first time since Torino 2006, but because these Olympics will be taking place in multiple locations, with venues scattered across the Italian Alps and Dolomites.

Some individual athletes from the banned countries will be permitted to participate in the Milano Cortina Winter Games