KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — The artist whose controversial helmet painting resulted in Ukrainian skeleton racer Vladyslav Heraskevych being banned from the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics says his refusal to stop wearing the helmet was a “great act of heroism.”
Artist Iryna Prots meticulously painted on Hraskovic’s helmet the portraits of more than 20 Ukrainian athletes and coaches who have been killed since Russia launched a full-scale invasion in 2022. The helmet attracted international attention after the International Olympic Committee said it violated rules banning political messages. Hraskovic insisted on wearing it and was eventually banned.
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“He could have said no, he could have said, ‘OK, I’ll put on another helmet and fight for a medal,'” Protz, 52, told The Associated Press from his home in Kiev. “He didn’t do that. Standing up for your truth – that’s great heroism.”
Hraskovic came up with the idea for the helmet design, and his father (an old friend of Protz) asked her to draw it.
“It has to be done, and it has to be done in a timely manner,” Protz said. “These athletes could have been standing there at the Olympics, but they’re not here anymore.”
The project was quite different from Protz’s usual work: Tuscan landscapes regularly exhibited at a small gallery in the Italian town of Montepulciano.
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She travels to Italy several times a year and says those visits convince her that many Europeans still know little about the realities of the war in Ukraine.
“I know that when war happens far away, people get used to it,” she said. “They have their own lives. But we are fighting every day. Fighting to survive.”
Drawing on photos of fallen athletes and coaches, Protz said the emotional burden of the task was immediate.
“This is painful for our country,” she said. “The reality is that we essentially lost Olympic champions and the coaches who developed this generation of Olympic champions.”
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Ploetz said she believes the stories of the athletes depicted on the helmets should be told to the world, especially as wars continue and international sporting events continue.
“The Olympics are supposed to symbolize peace,” she said. “But today I find it difficult to understand how there can be celebrations, national anthems, dancing and singing when we live under air raid sirens and bombs.”
Despite Russia’s ongoing air strikes on the Ukrainian capital, Prots said she will continue to paint.
“I’ve always painted beauty and nature,” she said. “It’s a form of resistance in my soul—the belief that peace will return and that birds will sing in the fields again instead of sirens.” ___
Associated Press writer Dmytro Zhyhinas contributed to this report.