“It’s my position. Like any normal people, I don’t want war.”
QUICK FACTS:
- A Ukrainian skeleton athlete flashed a small sign that read “No War in Ukraine” to the cameras as he finished a run at the Beijing Olympics on Friday night, The Associated Press reports.
- Vladyslav Heraskevych’s sign was printed on a blue-and-yellow piece of paper, matching the colors of his country’s flag.
- “In Ukraine, it’s really nervous now,” Heraskevych said. “A lot of news about guns, about weapons, what’s to come in Ukraine, about some armies around Ukraine. It’s not OK. Not in the 21st century. So I decided, before the Olympics, that I would show my position to the world.”
WHAT HERASKEVYCH SAID:
“It’s my position. Like any normal people, I don’t want war,” Heraskevych said after he finished competing. “I want peace in my country, and I want peace in the world. It’s my position, so I fight for that. I fight for peace.”
“I hope the Olympics will (support) me in this situation. Nobody wants war,” said Heraskevych. “I hope it helps … make peace in our country.”
BACKGROUND:
- The International Olympic Committee said there would be no repercussions for the athlete, AP notes.
- There had been a question of whether the body might consider Heraskevych’s act a violation of Rule 50 of the Olympic Charter, the rule stating that “no kind of demonstration or political, religious or racial propaganda is permitted in any Olympic sites, venues or other areas.”
- “This was a general call for peace. For the IOC the matter is closed,” the Games’ governing body said Friday night.
- Ukraine’s President, Volodymyr Zelensky, has called on the West not to create panic amid the build-up of Russian troops on his country’s borders, telling reporters “There are signals even from respected leaders of states, they just say that tomorrow there will be war. This is panic – how much does it cost for our state?”
- “Do we have tanks on the streets?” Zelensky asked reporters during the news conference. “No. When you read media, you get the image that we have troops in the city, people fleeing … That’s not the case.”
- “I’m the president of Ukraine and I’m based here and I think I know the details better here,” he said at one point.
