The luge silver medalist finds sympathetic words for skeleton athlete Wladyslaw Heraskewytsch, who was excluded from the Winter Games.
Dajana Eitberger received the disqualification of Ukrainian skeleton athlete Wladyslaw Heraskewytsch with regret. “I know Vladi and the whole situation. This doesn’t leave anyone untouched,” said the luge silver medalist at a press conference on Thursday in the German House in Cortina d’Ampezzo.
Her family had hosted a Ukrainian refugee family, a mother and her two children, at home for a year and a half, Eitberger recounted: “You experience situations there that you somehow view very differently in everyday life. Ultimately, there are unfortunately rules. Although I always say: politics and sport can no longer be separated nowadays. In this case, one must adhere to the rules.”
Eitberger Expresses Sympathy for Colleagues
Heraskewytsch had been excluded from the Olympic competition in the Cortina ice track after a conflict with the International Olympic Committee (IOC). The World Championship fourth-place finisher, who also had his accreditation for the Winter Games revoked, had insisted on wearing a helmet, both in training and competition, displaying portraits of Ukrainian athletes killed in the war by Russian soldiers.
“I feel very sorry for Vladi that he has to accept such a loss and that he wanted to use the platform simply to honor the dedication of these athletes,” said Eitberger: “It is very clear that sport and this kind of politics should not be connected, but only in other issues when it comes to promoting sport. But it is of course very bitter that he is not allowed to participate in this competition at all.”