By Karolos Grohmann
MILAN, Feb 12 (Reuters) - International Olympic Committee president Kirsty Coventry navigated the first significant political test of her young reign in the dispute over Ukrainian skeleton racer Vladyslav Heraskevych’s helmet, showing a new approach to the challenge of limiting institutional damage in the face of crisis.
The decision to disqualify Heraskevych for competing in a helmet honouring athletes killed during Russia’s invasion placed Coventry at the centre of an early confrontation
between the Olympic movement’s claim of political neutrality and the realities of a war that continues to intrude on sport.
The IOC's ruling drew criticism from Ukraine, with the country's sports minister Matvii Bidnyi telling Reuters the decision was wrong.
Yet in her first Games in charge, Coventry — a former Olympic swimming champion from Zimbabwe who succeeded Thomas Bach last June — will hope to have contained a crisis that cut directly to the IOC’s credibility and its handling of geopolitical conflict.
The episode also offered an early window into how she intends to exercise authority compared with her mentor and predecessor Bach.
Where the German often relied on dense institutional process and carefully layered diplomacy to defuse flashpoints, Coventry's handling suggested a more personal, hands-on style — moving quickly to engage directly with the athlete while allowing the disciplinary machinery to run its course.
As much as the IOC tries to keep politics away from the Olympics, athletes do try to use the Games as a platform for political statements, and so it was again in Italy when Heraskevych announced he would race with his 'helmet of remembrance', despite repeated warnings from the IOC that such a move would violate Games rules and lead to disqualification.
Initially the Ukrainian's expulsion was a foregone conclusion, with only the timing to be determined -- Wednesday night or Thursday morning when Heraskevych's skeleton event was scheduled to take place at the Cortina d'Ampezzo sliding centre.
The first woman and, at 42, the youngest person to lead the organisation in a century, Coventry was in the mountain town on Wednesday as part of a planned trip to visit the venues there.
As the pressure built with the clock ticking down to the start of Heraskevych's event, she held several discussions with her executive board, culminating in an emergency late-night meeting where the idea of a last-ditch intervention by Coventry took shape, sources told Reuters.
After intense IOC leadership discussions, a dawn meeting with the athlete to try to resolve the impasse was determined to be the best approach and Coventry changed her plans accordingly.
MORE CONCILIATORY TONE
Unusually for the IOC, she had already struck a conciliatory tone, offering several concessions, including for Heraskevych to display his helmet before and after competing, wear a black armband during competition, and talk to the media with the headgear.
The approach marked a stylistic shift from the IOC's long tradition of zero tolerance that saw past presidents summarily punish athletes who violated rules with swift disqualification and sharply worded announcements delivered at arm's length through official channels.
By contrast, Coventry announced Thursday's decision in person with tears in her eyes.
"Clearly this was a baptism by fire for her," Michael Payne, the IOC's former longtime marketing chief told Reuters.
"The fact is she, as a young (former) athlete, met the young athlete, face-to-face. She did not duck it or delegate it. She really went out of her way to try and personally find some compromise."
Despite the softer tone, Coventry did not bend the rules, ultimately enforcing the disqualification in line with IOC regulations, of which she was the architect, having helped reshape them as the IOC's Athletes' Commission chief in 2021.
"If she had given in to the pressure she would have opened Pandora’s box," Payne added.
"You could fast-track to Los Angeles (hosts of the 2028 Summer Olympics) in two years from now and you would have set a precedent, and the Palestinians would comment on Israel, the Americans would comment on Trump. It would be an open field day.
"If that field of play is not kept sacrosanct the whole pack of cards comes tumbling down because you have created a platform for every message, no matter how sympathetic."
Not everyone agrees, however, with Ukrainian Sports Minister Bidnyi describing the IOC's decision as "unjust".
Ukraine managed to send a team of 46 athletes to the Games despite widespread damage to the country's general and sports infrastructure since Russia's invasion in 2022.
"Of course we are all not satisfied," he told Reuters.
"This decision is more harmful for the image of the IOC than for Heraskevych. It was a mistake for the IOC."
(Reporting by Karolos GrohmannEditing by Toby Davis)
