CORTINA D’AMPEZZO, Italy (AP) — Ukrainian skeleton athlete Vladyslav Heraskevych, a likely medal contender at theMilan Cortina Games, was not allowed to compete Thursday after refusing a last-minute plea from the International Olympic Committee to use a helmet other than the one thathonors more than 20 of his country’s athletes and coacheskilled in the war with Russia.

The decision came roughly 45 minutes before the start of the competition, ending a three-day saga where Heraskevych knew he was risking being pulled from the Games by wearingthe helmet, one that the IOC says bans rules against making statements on the field of play.

He received written word Thursday from the International Bobsled and Skeleton Federation, which said his decision to wear the helmet was “inconsistent with the Olympic Charter and Guidelines on Athlete Expression.” He wore the helmet in training, but the IOC asked — pleaded might be the better word — for him to wear a different helmet in races and offered concessions such as the right to wear a black armband or even the ability to display the helmet once he was off the ice.

“I believe, deeply, the IBSF and IOC understand that I’m not violating any rules,” Heraskevych said. “Also, I would say (it’s) painful that it really looks like discrimination because many athletes already were expressing themselves. ... They didn’t face the same things. So, suddenly, just the Ukrainian athlete in this Olympic Games will be disqualified for the helmet.”

IOC President Kirsty Coventry, who was slated to be in Cortina d’Ampezzo on Thursday to see Alpine skiing, went to the sliding center instead to meet Heraskevych. She was waiting at the top of the track when he arrived around 8:15 a.m., and they met privately a few minutes later. After about 10 minutes, Coventry was unable to change Heraskevych’s mind.

“We didn’t find common ground in this regard,” Heraskevych said.

Coventry spoke with reporters after the meeting, tears rolling down her face at times as she spoke. The Olympic champion swimmer made clear that she wanted a different outcome, and the official statement from the IOC said the decision was made “with regret.”

“As you’ve all seen over the last few days, we’ve allowed for Vladyslav to use his helmet in training,” Coventry said. “No one, no one — especially me — is disagreeing with the messaging. The messaging is a powerful message. It’s a message of remembrance. It’s a message of memory and no one is disagreeing with that. The challenge that we are facing is that we wanted to ask or come up with a solution for just the field of play.”

In their meeting, Coventry and Heraskevych agreed that the helmet — which has images of the faces of more than 20 people who were killed in the war — isn’t clearly visible anyway, given that sliders are zipping down the icy chute reaching speeds of more than 120 kph (75 mph).

That, the IOC hoped, was the window to a compromise. If the faces on the helmet can’t be clearly seen when he’s racing anyway, would he consider not using it while sliding?

Source: Drudge Report