Ukrainian skeleton racer Vladyslav Heraskevych, banned from Olympics, speaks at United Nations
Vladyslav Heraskevych was shunned by the Olympics, then invited to the United Nations. The Ukrainian skeleton athlete was not allowed to compete at the Milan Cortina Games because of his plan to wear a helmet paying tribute to some of those killed following Russia's invasion of his country. “I think it’s important that we use this stage and talk about important things," Heraskevych said at the opening ceremony of Change the World Model United Nations, an educational simulation for thousands of students.
UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Vladyslav Heraskevych was shunned by the Olympics, then invited to the United Nations. He never expected that would happen. The Ukrainian skeleton athlete was not allowed to compete at the Milan Cortina Games because of his plan to wear a helmet paying tribute to some of those killed following Russia's invasion of his country.
He spoke on a panel at the U. N. on Thursday detailing why he still believes he made the right decision.
“I think it’s important that we use this stage and talk about important things," Heraskevych said at the opening ceremony of Change the World Model United Nations, an educational simulation for thousands of students. “Sometimes it feels like, in all these hours of training, we really forgot about the overall mission of sports. It is not only about the medals, but it’s also about values that we represent.
” Heraskevych was invited to share his story as part of a panel that also included Shiva Amini, a former women's soccer player for Iran who now lives in exile in New York. Amini was granted asylum in Switzerland in 2017 after the Iranian government threatened sanctions after she was photographed playing soccer with men while not wearing the mandatory hijab, or headscarf. “We can save lives with sport,” Heraskevych said from the stage.
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