Heraskevych’s ‘helmet of memory’ forces IOC into PR fiasco at Winter Olympics | Sean Ingle

Skeleton racer sacrificed his dream of winning a medal and succeeded in putting the horrors of the war in Ukraine back on the agendaTo be an Olympic-class skeleton racer requires extraordinary guts and impeccable nerve, as the corners loom and then whoosh past at frightening speed. So did anybody really believe that Ukraine’s Vladyslav Heraskevych would lose his when the world’s eyes were upon him?Not the International Olympic Committee, who flipped between threats of expulsion and sweet talk over the past fortnight, without coming close to changing his mind. And certainly not those of us who have spoken and messaged Heraskevych, and found a man utterly prepared to sacrifice his dream of winning a Winter Olympic medal for a higher purpose.In public and private his message was the same: he would not back down. And if the IOC barred from competing in his “helmet of memory”, which commemorates some of the 600 Ukrainian athletes and coaches killed by Russian bombs and bullets since 2022, he would accept his fate

‘It’s emptiness’: banned Ukrainian athlete accuses IOC of fuelling Russia’s propaganda

Vladyslav Heraskevych has accused the International Olympic Committee of doing Russia’s propaganda for them after he was barred from racing in the Winter Games because he wanted to wear a “helmet of memory” in honour of Ukraine’s war dead.In one of the most controversial decisions in recent Olympic history, the Ukrainian skeleton racer was informed only minutes before he was due to compete that his accreditation had been rescinded.It followed a last-ditch meeting in Cortina on Thursday morning with the IOC’s president, Kirsty Coventry, who left in tears after she failed to persuade Heraskevych to change his mind.The IOC has maintained all week that the helmet, which shows the images of 24 athletes and children that died from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, violates its athletes’ charter because the field of play must be free from political expression.However Heraskevych, who had a genuine chance of winning Ukraine’s first medal at these Winter Olympics, has insisted that the helmet is an act of remembrance for the friends he has lost and that it would be a “betrayal” to back down

Move over Pommel Horse Guy: USA’s Curling Rambo becomes cult hero of Winter Olympics

At Paris 2024, the US had Pommel Horse Guy. At these Winter Olympics, the Americans have a new cult hero: Curling Rambo.Aidan Oldenburg, a member of the US men’s curling team, has attracted attention for his glasses, thick thatch of hair and red bandana. His appeal as an unlikely hero has drawn comparisons with Stephen Nedoroscik, USA’s bespectacled, Rubik’s Cube-solving gymnastics hero who won two bronze medals at the Paris Olympics.Like Nedoroscik, the 24-year-old Oldenburg has hobbies away from his sport

‘If they’re a chef short, I’ll fill that role’: Safyaan Sharif ready to cook up T20 World Cup shock

It is fair to say that England’s first two games at the T20 World Cup have not inspired much confidence – unless you’re one of their future opponents. For Scotland, last-minute call-ups after the decision to banish Bangladesh from the tournament last month, English travails have put some extra pep in their step ahead of the now-crucial Group C clash in Kolkata on Saturday.“Definitely,” says the seamer Safyaan Sharif. “They’ll be feeling pressure because they know they have to win if they want to qualify. Obviously that’s the same with us, but I don’t think we have too much to lose

Olympic champion Breezy Johnson crashes out of super-G then gets engaged at end of course

Olympic downhill champion Breezy Johnson didn’t add to her medal haul during the women’s super-G on Thursday, but she left Tofane with something precious anyway: an engagement ring.Johnson, who won gold on Sunday in the downhill, crashed out of the super-G after she clipped a gate with one of her poles, sending her tumbling into the safety fence. However, there was some consolation: her boyfriend, Connor Watkins, proposed to her near the finish line. Surrounded by members of the US Ski Team, Johnson said “Yes!” and the two embraced.Johnson said she had an idea Watkins would propose, although the exact location and timing was still a surprise

Victoria and WA shook the foundations as Origin hit a peak that it will never reach again | Brendan Foster

When a late snap from Gary Buckenara put Western Australia ahead of Victoria in the 1986 State of Origin game, I feared the stands at Subiaco Oval were about to collapse under the weight of the thunderous thumping of rapturous fans.Almost 40,000 supporters squeezed into the ageing Soviet-style concrete stadium on a Tuesday afternoon in July to watch the Sandgropers take on the Big V in what is widely regarded as one of the greatest interstate football matches.Maybe it was because the ground was bulging at the seams with thousands of jittery, sugar-fuelled school kids and slightly sloshed Sandgropers, whose bosses had turned a blind eye to their midweek sickies – but I’ve never experienced an atmosphere like it.There was a chaotic, Colosseum-like frenzy to the noise, without the gladiators or the lions. (If you think I’m dishing up a decent serving of hyperbolic hogwash, watch the last quarter to see why the game remains timeless