VIDEO SHOWS: PRESS CONFERENCE COMMENTS FROM UKRAINIAN SKELETON RACER, VLADYSLAV HERASKEVYCH, AFTER BEING DISQUALIFIED FROM MILANO CORTINA GAMES RESENDING WITH COMPLETE SRIPT SHOWS: MILAN, ITALY (FEBRUARY 12, 2026) (REUTERS – Access all) 1. UKRAINIAN SKELETON RACER, VLADYSLAV HERASKEVYCH, ARRIVING AT PRESS CONFERENCE TO APPLAUSE 2. HERASKEVYCH SITTTING DOWN 3. HERASKEVYCH AT START OF PRESS CONFERENCE 4. PRESS CONFERENCE ONGOING 5. (SOUNDBITE) (English) UKRAINIAN SKELETON RACER, VLADYSLAV HERASKEVYCH, SAYING: "In these past, like, past four years, I did a lot of sacrifices towards this goal. And yeah, we, like, on average, we had 11 or so trainings per week. It was a lot of work and a lot of effort. But it was taken away so easily. I believe also it was taken away with no strong basis to take it away. So yeah, I feel really disappointed. And yeah, if I could find motivation to do it in the future, then I will do it. But yeah, I still have some hope in my heart that we're able to create another 'Miracle on Ice' and maybe we're still able to compete in the Olympics. Somehow, I don't know how, but maybe we'll find some solution tomorrow." 6. PRESS CONFERENCE ONGOING 7. (SOUNDBITE) (English) UKRAINIAN SKELETON RACER, VLADYSLAV HERASKEVYCH, ON HIS MEETNG WITH IOC PRESIDENT, KIRSTY COVENTRY, SAYING: "I talked about another example, other athletes who, in my opinion, were doing the same thing. I'm talking about U.S. figure skater, I'm talking about freestyle skier from Canada, I'm talking about Israeli athlete, and so on. Everything that I also posted on social media. In the same manner as it was in press conferences with (IOC spokesperson) Mark Adams, we didn't receive any explanation. Also, I didn't; to be honest, I didn't understand what rules we are violating. Is it rule 50 (of the Olympic charter)? Is it athletes' expression guidelines? So, at the end of the day, I still at this moment – so I was disqualified – but I still don't understand why." 8. PRESS CONFERENCE ONGOING 9. (SOUNDBITE) (English) UKRAINIAN SKELETON RACER, VLADYSLAV HERASKEVYCH, ON HIS MEETNG WITH IOC PRESIDENT, KIRSTY COVENTRY, SAYING: "To be honest, there were some offers, and one of those offers was to bring (the) helmet – so my dad should bring (the) helmet, but I should slide in another helmet. And then somehow, the helmet will be teleported to me at the finish, and then I could use it at the mixed zone. I also told her that, 'Okay, if you're concerned about the field of play, then I will try to be fast on the track and then nobody can see anyone, and then we can watch them at the finish or the start'. But suddenly, like, it was also not a solution for Mrs. Coventry and yeah, now we are in this situation." 10. PRESS CONFERENCE ONGOING 11.  (SOUNDBITE) (English) UKRAINIAN SKELETON RACER, VLADYSLAV HERASKEVYCH, ON HIS MEETNG WITH IOC PRESIDENT, KIRSTY COVENTRY, SAYING: "(The) problem here is that I was suspended more than one hour before the start of the race and Mrs. Coventry also proved that competition venue, it's the place where you are starting (un)til the place where you are finishing in the case of the sliding centre. So, as you understand, I wasn't there. So, as I understand, I couldn't physically violate this rule because I was suspended before it happened. So, I didn't violate athletes' expression places – yes – so, I didn't have the chance because also she admitted that trainings are not part of the competition venue. So, trainings don't count." 12. MEDIA 13.  (SOUNDBITE) (English) UKRAINIAN SKELETON RACER, VLADYSLAV HERASKEVYCH, SAYING: JOURNALIST ASKING: "Do you have full accreditation or can you go back to the (Olympic) village if you wanted to?" HERASKEVYCH: "So we will see because, you know, it's not a consistent thing these days. So, sometimes they want to have it back, sometimes they give it back. I don't know where we are tomorrow." JOURNALIST ASKING: "So, do you have any accreditation like what we have at the moment with like this?" HERASKEVYCH: "But I didn't check it yet, so we just left the village and we are." 14. VARIOUS OF HERKASKEVYCH HOLDING HIS HELMET WITH IMAGES OF UKRAINIAN ATHLETES KILLED DURING RUSSIAN INVASION 15. HELMET 16. VARIOUS OF HERASKEVYCH TALKING TO MEDIA STORY: Disqualified Ukrainian skeleton racer Vladyslav Heraskevych says he is still hoping for another 'Miracle on Ice' after submitting an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) contesting his Winter Olympics ban. The 27-year-old had been training in Italy with a 'helmet of remembrance' depicting two dozen Ukrainian athletes killed since Russia's 2022 invasion. He was barred and initially told he would be stripped of his accreditation minutes before competition was due to start at the sliding venue on Thursday (February 12) morning. "I still have some hope in my heart that we're able to create another 'Miracle on Ice' and still compete in the Olympics," Heraskevych told a press conference in Milan in reference to the United States' underdog ice hockey victory over the Soviet Union at the 1980 Games. With the first of two heats scheduled for Thursday starting shortly after Heraskevych was disqualified and the final two runs programmed for Friday evening, Heraskevych has asked CAS to supervise a run that would keep him in the competition pending a final decision by the court. CAS said it would review the matter with urgency given the circumstances with Heraskevych making the journey down from the Dolomites to attend a 9 a.m. hearing in Milan on Friday. IOC President Coventry travelled the same route in the opposite direction early on Thursday to meet Heraskevych in a last-ditch effort to get him to compete without the specific helmet which the IOC said was violating its guidelines on athletes' expression. The Ukrainian athlete says, however, that he is still unsure what specific section of the Olympic Charter he has breached and accused the IOC of obfuscation. IOC spokesperson Mark Adams insisted in their daily Milano Cortina news briefing on Thursday that athletes are not only allowed but encouraged to express themselves before and after competing – in press conferences, mixed zones and on social media. The only place they are forbidden to do so is the field of play itself, but as Heraskevych pointed out, he was disqualified before being able to contravene such criteria.  "Mrs. Coventry proved that the competition venue is the place where you are start until the where you finish," Heraskevych explained. "The problem here is that I was suspended before the start of the race. So, as I understand it, I couldn't physically violate this rule." While Heraskevych remains banned from competing, he was handed back his credentials allowing him to stay at the Milano Cortina Games after Coventry asked the IOC Disciplinary Commission to "reconsider the withdrawal" of the athlete's accreditation. (Production: Leonardo Benassatto, Conal Quinn)
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