The controversy first emerged at the Olympic Winter Games in Milan just weeks ago, when Ukrainian skeleton athlete Vladyslav Heraskevych was disqualified for intending to compete in a helmet bearing the images of deceased athletes from his nation. The IOC deemed this move a violation of rules prohibiting political messaging, and now the IPC has followed a similar path, targeting one of Ukraine’s most decorated Paralympians.

As reported by Olga Patlyuk on X, Paralympic biathlete Oleksandra Kononova, a multiple Paralympic champion, received an official warning from the IPC for wearing earrings bearing the inscription “Stop War” during competition at the 2026 Winter Paralympics in Milano Cortina.

The 35-year-old, who has amassed 11 Paralympic medals over her career, including six golds, wore the blue-and-yellow earrings on the opening day of the Games, where she promptly won gold in the standing biathlon sprint and later added bronze in the individual race.

Kononova addressed the incident directly in an exclusive interview with Ukrainian public broadcaster Suspilne Sport, stating, “They made remarks, they said that according to the regulations, the [inscription] ‘Stop War’ on earrings is not allowed, although I ran in them.”

She added, “I feel comfortable because I was ready to make comments. This is my state of mind when I wear patriotic earrings, clothes, uniforms, and a flag. It means a lot to me, I live for it, I work for it. This is what inspires me in sports: my state, anthem, flag. Everything about all this — with me.” (translated from Ukrainian)

Her words were echoed by Ukraine’s President of the National Paralympic Committee, Valeriy Sushkevych, who said, “The International Paralympic Committee said: ‘No, no, no – that won’t work!’ They claimed this uniform was political and said no one would be allowed to march in it.”

The IPC defended its position by citing Section 2.2 of the IPC Handbook, which prohibits public or political messages, as well as expressions related to national identity, on athlete apparel during competition. This longstanding rule mirrors the IOC’s Rule 50.2 that ruined another Ukrainian athlete’s campaign a few weeks ago.

Vladyslav Heraskevych had to face the consequences because of the IOC’s rules

“Am I showing ‘conflict’ on the helmet? I’m showing athletes who died since last Winter Olympic Games. By which details did he determine that the helmet is showing a conflict? The whole world sees ‘memory’, but he sees a conflict?” a frustrated Vladyslav Heraskevych said, prior to his suspension from the Milan Winter Games.

Well, the IOC made it very clear that his helmet violated Rule 50.2 of the Olympic Charter.

IOC spokesperson Mark Adams clarified, stating, “It’s the message of the athletes, that the athletes have reiterated to us time and time again. There are 130 conflicts going on in the world. We cannot have 130 different conflicts featured. However terrible they are, we cannot have them featured during the field of play, during the actual competition. So we would beg him, we want you to compete.”

Even while announcing his suspension, a teary-eyed IOC president, Kirsty Coventry, said, “No-one is disagreeing with the messaging. The messaging is a powerful message of remembrance, it’s a message of memory, and no-one is disagreeing with that.”

She added, “What I proposed to him this morning and to his dad – because he also said when he goes down it’s blurry, you can’t really see it – so I said: ‘Could we find a solution where we pay homage to his message, to his helmet before he races, then as soon as he’s finished racing going into the mixed zone where you can see the pictures?’ Sadly, we’ve not been able to come to that solution. I really wanted to see him race today. It’s been an emotional morning.”

The IOC’s decision to suspend the Olympian saw his father in tears, as Mykhailo was seen getting consoled by Chanmin Chyun, the president of the Korea Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation, on the site.

While the IPC hasn’t taken any major decision on Oleksandra Kononova, the biathlete’s decision to still compete with the earrings while being aware of the potential consequences represents her strong state of mind.