Days before Vladyslav Heraskevych’s country was plunged into an enduring nightmare the skeleton athlete provided one of the defining images of the Winter Olympics. Facing the TV cameras he held up a simple sign – “No war in Ukraine” – even though he feared it would get him kicked out of Beijing. It was an act of defiance which made headlines around the globe. But then his world, like that of millions of other Ukrainians, was violently torn from him.
Four months later Heraskevych is back with a new message. This time it is delivered from the bombed out Chernihiv Olympic Training and Sports Centre, 31 miles from the border of Belarus, after he has spent the day pushing young kids scarred by war on sleds. “It is time for all sports to ban Russian athletes until the war is over,” Heraskevych says. “It is absolutely crazy that they play while we suffer.”
