His name is Vladyslav Heraskevych. He practices skeleton, this very special sport halfway between luge and bobsleigh which sends you down a track at more than 140 km/h, his nose practically glued to the track. This Friday, he took 18th place in the event won by the German Christopher Grotheer. A result that allows the Germans to temporarily return to the top of the medal standings.
Vladyslav Heraskevych is mostly Ukrainian. After his fourth and final run on the track on Friday, he suddenly pulled out a piece of blue and yellow paper in the colors of his country on which was written: “No War in Ukraine. “No war in Ukraine. “. He proudly presented it to cameras around the world. “I want peace, like a normal person, I don’t want war. I want peace for my country, for the whole world and I fight for that,” he declared.
It was a simple message of peace when for several days, tens of thousands of Russian army soldiers have been standing all along the border between the two countries, ready to invade Ukraine on the simple order of Vladimir Putin. . For more than a week, diplomatic negotiations have multiplied between the great leaders of the world to avoid war, but the threat remains real and the worst might happen.
He risks an exclusion from the Games
“We still see no sign of de-escalation in the current situation and we deeply regret it,” said German government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit, for example, on Friday. That same day, the Kremlin noted that discussions bringing together representatives of Russia, Ukraine, Germany and France the day before in Berlin had produced “no results” and Russia announced in parallel new military maneuvers on the Ukrainian border. The situation remains serious.
Vladyslav Heraskevych’s message therefore takes on its full meaning. Except that it may not be to the liking of the Chinese authorities, allies of Russia, nor of the IOC. Because the Ukrainian, despite his very good intentions, is quite simply in contradiction with the Olympics code. Rule 50 of the Olympic Charter stipulates that “no form of demonstration or political, religious or racial propaganda is authorized on the Olympic sites”.
On Friday evening, however, the IOC showed leniency by promising not to sanction him.