VIDEO SHOWS: INTERVIEW WITH DIRECTOR GENERAL OF GLOBAL ATHLETE, ROB KOEHLER / STILL PHOTOGRAPHS OF UKRAINIAN SKELETON SLIDER, VLADYSLAV HERASLEVYCH RESENDING WITH COMPLETE SCRIPT SHOWS: CORTINA D'AMPEZZO, ITALY (FEBRUARY 12, 2026) (REUTERS – Access all) (MUTE) 1. STILL PHOTOGRAPH OF UKRAINIAN SKELETON SLIDER, VLADYSLAV HERASLEVYCH MONTREAL, CANADA (FEBRUARY 12, 2026) (REUTERS – Access all) 2. (SOUNDBITE) (English) DIRECTOR GENERAL OF GLOBAL ATHLETE, ROB KOEHLER, SAYING: "I think athletes should be able to express their opinions. They should be able to, as long as it's peaceful, it's not political, and it celebrates people's lives. We've seen it throughout the whole games. I mean, we've seen the Canadian remember the life of one of her colleagues who's died, a skier; we've seen Ukrainian athletes put up peaceful messages; we've seen figure skaters put up peaceful messages when they've lost the lives of their loved ones. Let people express their opinions, and and if it's about grieving and supporting your nation, there shouldn't be anything off guard there." CORTINA D'AMPEZZO, ITALY (FEBRUARY 12, 2026) (REUTERS – Access all) (MUTE) 3. STILL PHOTOGRAPH OF HERASLEVYCH MONTREAL, CANADA (FEBRUARY 12, 2026) (REUTERS – Access all) 4. (SOUNDBITE) (English) DIRECTOR GENERAL OF GLOBAL ATHLETE, ROB KOEHLER, SAYING: "The IOC doesn't hold back on political statements. They're always in the political realm. I mean, you have heads of state that come into the IOC's opening ceremonies. So, yeah, you should… I have no sympathy. I agree there has to be guidelines, but they're so opaque right now that nobody knows what the rules are – and hence, at the last minute, they pulled Vlad from from the event. Shame on them. I mean, this young guy has gone through so much over so many years to fight for his country, to fight for his cause, and to be able to compete, and the blink of an eye and a tear from Coventry thinks it makes it all go away and move on. Unacceptable." CORTINA D'AMPEZZO, ITALY (FEBRUARY 12, 2026) (REUTERS – Access all) (MUTE) 5. STILL PHOTOGRAPH OF INTERNATIONAL OLYMPIC COMMITTEE (IOC) PRESIDENT, KIRSTY COVENTRY MONTREAL, CANADA (FEBRUARY 12, 2026) (REUTERS – Access all) 6. (SOUNDBITE) (English) DIRECTOR GENERAL OF GLOBAL ATHLETE, ROB KOEHLER, SAYING: (ON HIS CRITICISM OF THE IOC'S SURVEY THAT LEAD TO RELAXATION OF RULE 50) "And, you know, we heard back from the IOC and, of course, they said they had their own social science researchers developing it, but clearly there was a lot of priming happening in that survey. So we don't put any weight into that survey. We don't put any weight into their guidelines as they are so opaque, and I think if they're going to do it properly, they need to engage outside athlete groups, such as World Players or Global Athlete, to show there's more independence when you start to survey and ask athletes. We've done a similar survey, which shows the total opposite. It's on our website. But again, they could criticise us as well. So I think the process was flawed and I don't think we can put much stake into their continual expression that over 3,000 athletes have agreed to this. Well, there's over 10,000 athletes at the Summer Olympic Games." CORTINA D'AMPEZZO, ITALY (FEBRUARY 12, 2026) (REUTERS – Access all) (MUTE) 7. STILL PHOTOGRAPH OF HERASLEVYCH'S HELMET MONTREAL, CANADA (FEBRUARY 12, 2026) (REUTERS – Access all) 8. (SOUNDBITE) (English) DIRECTOR GENERAL OF GLOBAL ATHLETE, ROB KOEHLER, SAYING: "It showed that athletes wanted to have – the majority of athletes wanted – to be able to express their views anywhere as long it was in line with the UN Declaration of Human Rights, and those surveys that we had done, we had three, the first one, three sets of four independent reviewers look at it, we actually tested it in the field to make sure it wasn't priming and then we sent it out to the athletes. I don't recall exactly the number, but I think it was the same numbers that the IOC over 3,000 athletes from all over the world that commented on it. It was on a very broad spectrum of issues, including compensation and athlete abuse and and freedom of expression." CORTINA D'AMPEZZO, ITALY (FEBRUARY 12, 2026) (REUTERS – Access all) (MUTE) 9. STILL PHOTOGRAPH OF HERASLEVYCH MONTREAL, CANADA (FEBRUARY 12, 2026) (REUTERS – Access all) 10. (SOUNDBITE) (English)DIRECTOR GENERAL OF GLOBAL ATHLETE, ROB KOEHLER, SAYING: "He's a hero, he really is, and today I saw a snippet of the IOC communications director saying they were going to allow Vlad to carry his helmet after the event, and what is one minute of his race to not have to wear it? Like, flip it around to him. What's one minute of him wearing it? So the counterargument is there, it's already everywhere, it's already exposed. The issues have been international. (Ukrainian President) Volodymyr Zelenskiy has commented on it at several times, so the issue is already out there." CORTINA D'AMPEZZO, ITALY (FEBRUARY 12, 2026) (REUTERS – Access all) (MUTE) 11. STILL PHOTOGRAPH OF HERASLEVYCH MONTREAL, CANADA (FEBRUARY 12, 2026) (REUTERS – Access all) 12. (SOUNDBITE) (English) DIRECTOR GENERAL OF GLOBAL ATHLETE, ROB KOEHLER, SAYING: "Let him compete. The messaging is already out there, but the IOC again stuck their head in the sand – no flexibility, and a Ukrainian athlete has to pay the price for their their inability to be reasonable and to think what's really important in sport. And that's letting athletes compete, a today they violated that right. Every athlete has the right to compete and they violated that." MONTREAL, CANADA (FILE) (ROB KOEHLER – Access all) 13. KOEHLER (CENTRE) WITH HERASLEVYCH STORY: Athletes should be given more freedom of expression at the Olympics says Global Athlete, an advocacy group for better rights for sports men and women said on Thursday (February 12). Speaking to Reuters in the wake of the expulsion of Ukraine skeleton athlete Vlad Heraslevych from the Winter games in Milano-Cortina, Global Athlete's Director General, Rob Koehler, also criticised the way in which the International Olympic Committee (IOC) surveyed athletes ahead of the relaxing of Article 50 of the Olympic Charter, which governs what athletes can and can't say. Koehler, the former Deputy Director General of the World Anti Doping Agency, added that although he welcomed the recent changes, they didn't go far enough and athletes he had spoken to wanted to be able to speak out more. Heraslevych was dramatically disqualified from the skeleton after he insisted he would wear a helmet in tribute to Ukraine athletes who died in his country's ongoing conflict with Russia, and was stripped of his accreditation. The IOC said he had violated Article 50 which prohibits political displays. Currently the IOC say athletes are able to express their opinions at the Olympics, but not on the field of play. They offered Heraslevych the opportunity to wear a black armband and said he could speak about his helmet in press conferences. But Koehler insists Global Athletes' own surveys show "the majority of athletes wanted to be able to express their views anywhere as long it was in line with the UN Declaration of Human Rights". Global Athlete says on its website that it aims "to help athletes gain a more represented voice in world sport, recognising that the neglect and suppression of the athlete voice has gone on for too long." The IOC did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. (Production: Iain Axon)
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