Olympic Athletes Deserve the Right to Speak Out During Rare Moment in the Spotlight
The ongoing competition in Italy at the Winter Olympics has produced its usual slate of glorious moments. Athletes from across the world have worked for years with goals of performing at these Games. With those high stakes coming down to one moment at the end of a four-year cycle, emotions run high. Viewers watching thousands of miles away can revel in an athlete’s joy or empathize in the wake of crushing disappointment.
But as usual, the Olympics take place within the context of ongoing global affairs. Try as its organizers might, it is impossible to fully separate this grand athletic competition from reality. That’s why Russia and Belarus remained officially banned from Milan-Cortina; four years after Russia invaded Ukraine days after the last Winter Olympics concluded, there are only 13 Russian athletes and seven Belarusians competing this week in Italy, all as Individual Neutral Athletes.
Meanwhile, the first week of the 2026 Olympics saw two political flashpoints, one of which faded away as competition began while the other saw a skeleton pilot denied his opportunity to compete. In both cases, the blame should belong to the politicians: Olympic athletes deserve their fleeting moments in the spotlight, which includes a platform to shine a light on issues they deem important.
Few casual fans of Olympic sports knew the name Vladyslav Heraskevych before the Olympics began. That changed Thursday when Heraskevych was disqualified from the men’s skeleton competition after demanding to compete in a helmet memorializing Ukrainian athletes killed during the country’s ongoing war.
The International Olympic Committee cited rules banning individual expression of political messaging during competition. IOC President and gold-medal-winning swimmer Kirsty Coventry met with Heraskevych hours before the skeleton competition was to begin and offered to allow him to display the helmet after his competition in the mixed zone and wear a black armband during his races. Heraskevych refused any compromise, and an emotional Coventry decided to prevent him from competing. Coventry argued that the helmet was a political statement rather than a memorial.
Good for Heraskevych. No athlete should be forced to choose between principles and an opportunity to compete, but given the awful circumstances he was forced into, the 27-year-old should be lauded for sticking to his values. There is no more visible place for an Olympic athlete to expose a message than in competition, and by holding firm to his beliefs, Heraskevych created a moment of national pride for his country amid trying circumstances.
In response to the disqualification, Ukraine’s Olympic committee fully backed Heraskevych: “Vladislav did not start today, but he was not alone — all of Ukraine was with him. Because when an athlete stands up for truth, honor and memory — this is already a victory.” Coventry, on the other hand, positioned herself on the wrong side of history by backing the rulebook over an athlete standing up against injustice.
No other Olympians have been forced out of their events because of their political statements, but a group of Americans came under fire for their responses to questions about representing the United States internationally given the current climate. The administration of President Donald Trump has come under international scrutiny in particular over immigration enforcement. A pair of civilians, Renee Good and Alex Pretti, were killed by federal agents during operations in Minneapolis in January.
As with Heraskevych, American representatives took advantage of the rare moments when anyone outside of their respective sport’s bubble cares what they have to say. Hunter Hess, a member of the U.S. freestyle ski team, took the most heat for his comments. “It brings up mixed emotions to represent the U.S. right now. I think it’s a little hard,” Hess said at the start of the Games. “There’s obviously a lot going on that I’m not the biggest fan of, and I think a lot of people aren’t. Just because I’m wearing the flag doesn’t mean I represent everything that’s going on in the U.S.”
Trump responded with condemnation of Hess, calling him a “real loser” and saying “it’s too bad he’s on” the Olympic team. But his message was by no means unique: NBC News and The Athletic quoted other skiers competing on the halfpipe echoing the message from Hess. Chris Lillis said he was “heartbroken about what’s happened in the United States,” and he called for a “focus on respecting everybody’s rights and making sure that we’re treating our citizens as well as anybody with love and respect. Nick Goepper hoped to “uphold classic American values of respect, opportunity, and freedom, and equality — and project those to the world.”
In curling, Rich Ruohonen became the oldest U.S. Winter Olympian at age 54 when he competed as a reserve against Switzerland. In his daily life, Ruohonen is a lawyer who lives in Minnesota. Asked for his opinion during his rare moment in the public eye, Ruohonen offered, “I’m proud to be here to represent Team USA and to represent our country. But we’d be remiss if we didn’t at least mention what’s going on in Minnesota and what a tough time it’s been for everybody.” He added, “What’s happening in Minnesota is wrong. There’s no shades of gray.”
Even Chloe Kim, the two-time Olympic champion snowboarder who was among the country’s best known Winter Olympians long before these Games, shared her thoughts. The media-savvy Kim, who admitted that “this one definitely hits pretty close to home” since her parents were immigrants, expressed pride in representing the United States combined with a message of unity. “We are allowed to voice our opinions on what’s going on, and I think that we need to lead with love and compassion, and I would love to see some more of that,” she said.
Again, good for these Olympians for speaking out. Whether one agrees with their opinions is irrelevant here. Just like their less-athletically-accomplished counterparts, many Olympic competitors have deeply-held beliefs. With a once-every-four-years chance to speak out and have the world listen, they have chosen to use that platform in a manner they believe can bring positive change. Winter Olympians may have an even narrower window than their summer counterparts, with their sports and profiles even more anonymous outside of the Games.
Many, including IOC leadership, argue political statements have no place in the Olympics, but it’s unreasonable and unrealistic to expect athletes to forget or ignore the realities of their normal lives just because they are in the Olympic arena. On the contrary, politics have been intertwined with international sport for decades. Any argument otherwise is naive.
Among the most notable examples of politics and sports crossing came at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City. American track stars Tommie Smith and John Carlos raised black-gloved fists on the Olympic podium after winning medals in the 200-meter sprint. In the midst of the U.S. civil rights movement, these sprinters sought to raise awareness of African American poverty back home. They accomplished their goal, but they were expelled from the Games as punishment for their action.
The ongoing controversies in Italy echo what happened almost 60 years ago. No one has called for violence — quite the opposite, in fact. By qualifying for the Olympics, Heraskevych, Hess, Kim and every other athlete earned an opportunity, both athletically and otherwise, with two short weeks to make it count.