CAS begins hearing in Heraskevych’s case over Olympic disqualification

According to Suspilne Sport, the case is being heard under an expedited procedure. This became possible after the athlete’s lawyer, Yevhen Pronin, submitted the relevant documentation to CAS the day before, Ukrinform reports.

The hearing is closed to the public. The Ukrainian athlete arrived at an off-site CAS venue.

“I should be competing today, not taking part in a hearing,” Heraskevych said upon arriving for the proceedings.

According to CAS Director General Mathieu Reeb, the subject of the case is determining the legality of the decision by the International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation (IBSF), which legally disqualified the skeleton racer from participating in the Olympics.

“The hearing may last several hours – we don’t yet know exactly how long. We hope to have a final decision today, but I can’t predict that,” Reeb said. “We know the competition schedule and understand that a ruling must be issued before the start, but we do not know how long the proceedings will take. The purpose of the hearing is to determine whether the IBSF decision was legal or not.”

The case is being heard by a judge from Germany. A representative of the International Olympic Committee and Heraskevych are in Milan, while the Ukrainian athlete’s legal counsel and IBSF representatives joined the hearing remotely.

As previously reported, Heraskevych was disqualified shortly before his first run at the 2026 Winter Olympics. The athlete had planned to compete wearing a “Helmet of Memory” featuring portraits of fallen Ukrainian athletes, but the race took place without his participation.

Photo: Suspilne Sport / Serhii Zakharchenko