VIDEO SHOWS: NEWS CONFERENCE WITH IOC SPOKESMAN MARK ADAMS / FOOTAGE OF UKRAINE SKELETON RACER VLAD HERASKEVYCH / STILLS OF HERASKEVYCH SHOWS: MILAN, ITALY (FEBRUARY 11, 2026) (REUTERS – Access all) 1. IOC DAILY NEWS CONFERENCE STARTS 2. (SOUNDBITE) (English) IOC SPOKESPERSON MARK ADAMS SAYING: "We want him to compete. We really, really want him to have his moment. That's very, very important. We want all athletes to have their moment and that's the point. We want all athletes to have a fair and level playing field. And, you know, those athlete guidelines, I have actually a copy here somewhere that I was going to wave at you. But it's on it's online. They were agreed by 4,500 athletes and the input of many, many, many of our athletes commissions. This is what the athletes want. They want that specific moment, that specific moment on the field of play to be free from any distraction. He can, and we would encourage him to express his grief. We feel his grief. We would expressly want him to do that." 3 .NEWS CONFERENCE IN PROGRESS 4. (SOUNDBITE) (English) IOC SPOKESPERSON MARK ADAMS SAYING: "But, you know, in the end, let me be clear. It's not the message. It's the place that counts. And that for us, and not actually us, we are in this, in a sense, in a back seat. It's the message of the athletes, that the athletes reiterated to us time and time again. There are 130 conflicts going on in the world. We cannot have 130 different conflicts featured, however terrible they are. We cannot have them featured during the field of play, during the actual competition. So we would beg him, We want you to compete." 5. NEWS CONFERENCE IN PROGRESS 6. (SOUNDBITE) (English) IOC SPOKESPERSON MARK ADAMS SAYING: "Going back to what I said earlier on. I don't think it's helpful in this situation to look at hypotheticals, particularly since we're actually trying to get to a place where we can get him to take part. We really want him to compete. But if that message hasn't come across, already. We really want that to happen. So I don't think it's helpful to speculate about if he did this, what would we do? But obviously there are rules and regulations and without be belabouring the point, there are rules and regulations that the athletes themselves want us to enforce and they will ultimately be enforced." 7. NEWS CONFERENCE ENDS CORTINA D'AMPEZZO, ITALY (FEBRUARY 10, 2026) (REUTERS – Access all) (MUTE) 8. TWO STILL PHOTOGRAPHS OF VLAD HERASKEVYCH IN TRAINING CORTINA D'AMPEZZO, ITALY (FEBRUARY 9, 2026) (REUTERS – Access all) 9. HERASKEVYCH BEING INTERVIEWED, HOLDING HIS HELMET 10. HERASKEVYCH’S HELMET 11. (SOUNDBITE) (English) UKRAINIAN SKELETON RACER VLADYSLAV HERASKEVYCH, SAYING: “So Rule 50, I believe it's about political statements which harass, make some harassment against other nations and other people, other athletes. I believe it's not the case. So yes, I believe it should be allowed to compete in this helmet. And also to pay tribute to some of the members of the Olympic family.” 12. HERASKEVYCH’S HELMET STORY: TO FOLLOW
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