Ladies and gentlemen, we appear to have an impasse in the “helmet of memory” dispute.
After Ukrainian skeleton athlete Vladyslav Heraskevych said he does not want to “betray” the memories of athletes killed in the war with Russia and will continue to wear the helmet he has decorated with pictures of 24 of them, the IOC doubles down on its message that he cannot wear it in competition.
For the second day in a row, the IOC’s daily press conference saw lots of questions from the floor on this issue.
Chief spokesman Mark Adams said the IOC would talk to Heraskevych today and reiterate its stance on the need to keep the field of play free from political messages.
He said this is what the athletes have told the IOC they want.
He also said the IOC wants him to compete and has no problem with him expressing his entirely understandable feelings of grief before and after the event — but not during.
Heraskevych is scheduled to practise again this afternoon. I suspect he is not ready to back down yet.