Politics, penis injections, broken medals: A week of controversy at the Winter Olympics

Ukrainian barred over ‘helmet of heroism’ 

When Ukrainian skeleton athlete Vladyslav Heraskevych ⁠raced in training Monday, he gave a simple explanation for wearing a helmet featuring portraits of two dozen Ukrainian athletes killed in Russia's war: “Some of them were my friends,” he said.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) was quick to say 27-year-old Heraskevych, who was his country's flag bearer, could not wear the helmet in competition, as it violated a rule banning political statements at the Games.

But the skeleton athlete refused to comply, and when he turned up for his race on Thursday, he was barred from competing just 45 minutes before the start of the competition. 

"I really think we could have won a medal. I feel it was taken away from me," said Heraskevych, who placed fourth in the World Championships last year.

The ICO said it offered concessions, such as wearing a black armband or letting him display the helmet once he was off the ice.

But Ukrainian President ​Volodymyr Zelensky on Thursday ​criticised the IOC decision, saying it contradicted the ‌spirit of the Games.

Read more'The price of our dignity': Ukraine athlete disqualified from Olympics over memorial helmet

A disputed gold for France’s divisive ice duo 

French ice dancers Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Guillaume Cizeron arrived at the Milan Cortina Olympics amid a swirl of controversy which only increased when they edged out American favourites Madison Chock and Evan Bates to win gold.

“We're still in shock,” said Cizeron. “Looking back a year ago, when we started dreaming this, it's pretty incredible.”

While the Americans skated a nearly perfect sequence, Cizeron made several mistakes, including a glaring one during his twizzle sequence, but was ultimately favoured by a French judge, allowing the French duo to take the gold.

Read moreFrance’s Cizeron, Fournier Beaudry win ice dance gold at 2026 Olympics

Prior to the competition, both Beaudry and Cizeron were mired in controversy stemming from their former partners.

Beaudry, who previously skated for Canada, was left in professional limbo when Skate Canada banned Nikolaj Sorensen for a minimum of six years after allegations of “sexual maltreatment”. The suspension was overturned in June on jurisdictional grounds, but the case is still pending, and the uncertainty of it all left Beaudry searching for a new partner.

She found one in Cizeron, who had retired after winning the Olympic gold medal with Gabriella Papadakis in 2022.

But in the last few weeks, Cizeron also has come under scrutiny due to Papadakis's new memoir, “So As Not To Disappear”, in which she accused her longtime partner of being demanding, controlling and emotionally manipulative.

Cizeron has called the allegations false, accusing Papadakis of engineering a “smear campaign”.

Following Cizeron’s win on Wednesday, Papadakis posted a picture of a glass of wine and a packet of cigarettes on social media, and wrote that she was “logging off”.  

French biathlete struggles to shake off fraud conviction

French biathlete Julia Simon has so far won gold in the 15 kilometres title and the mixed relay at this year’s Games, elevating her to the status of France's greatest-ever woman biathlete – but has seen her victories overshadowed by her criminal conviction last year for scamming her teammates.

Read moreMilan Cortina 2026: France’s Julia Simon races to gold in women’s individual biathlon

Simon was found guilty in October of stealing and using credit cards belonging to her teammate Justine Braisaz-Bouchet and a team physiotherapist.

Aside from her prison sentence, she was also fined €15,000 ($17,800) and given a six-month ban by the French Ski Federation (FFS) at the beginning of November.

The sport's governing body later suspended five months of the ban, meaning Simon only missed the opening World Cup meet of the ​season in Oestersund, Sweden.

"I can’t explain my actions. I’ve had to work with a psychologist to understand and ​grow from this," she told the court at the time of her conviction.

After her victory on Wednesday, Simon was not in the mood to discuss last year's events with the media – as she hinted by raising a finger to her mouth as she crossed the finish line.

"What I would like now in all honesty is for you to leave me in peace," she told Eurosport.

Faulty clasps send medals flying

US skier Breezy Johnson was among the first athletes to experience her medal falling apart. She showed her broken gold medal at the post-event media conference on Monday.

"So there's the medal. And there's the ribbon," she told reporters. "And here's the little piece that is supposed to go into the ribbon to hold the medal, and yeah, it came apart."

Other athletes have noticed the same issue with their ribbons and clasps, notably sending their medals flying in the middle of jubilant celebrations.

The 1,146 medals for the 2026 Winter Games were manufactured by the Istituto Poligrafico e Zecca dello Stato, Italy's national mint, which said on Tuesday it would repair the faulty medal fixings for athletes.

“Athletes who have medals with problems are invited to give them back through the appropriate channels,” Olympic organising committee spokesman Luca Casassa said, “so that they can be immediately repaired”.

It is not the first time Olympians have experienced such an issue.

Some 220 medals at the 2024 Games in Paris, which contained a small piece of scrap metal from the Eiffel Tower, had to be replaced because they quickly turned black or rusted.  

Frosty reception for JD Vance cut for US audiences

The cheers that greeted the US athletes as they walked in the Olympic opening ceremony on Friday quickly turned to boos and jeers when the large screens at the San Siro stadium cut to US Vice President JD Vance and his wife Usha, both applauding and waving flags in the stands.

But as viewers around the world saw the crowd voice its displeasure at Vance’s presence, it seems that those watching from the US did not.

Various media reported that US broadcaster NBC cut the boos and did not comment on them during its coverage of the opening ceremony. 

The White House posted footage of Vance at the ceremony taken from NBC’s broadcast without any audible boos.

The International Olympic Committee said on Saturday it hopes for "fair play" at the Games after it acknowledged that Vance had received a frosty reception.

Are ski jumpers gaining an edge with penis injections?

One of the biggest controversies at this year’s Games began before the opening ceremony when German newspaper Bild said it had uncovered insider talk of ski jumpers injecting their ⁠penises with paraffin or hyaluronic acid to gain a competitive edge.

Elite ski jumpers undergo a full body scan to ensure their skin-tight suits do not have extra material ‍which would give them more lift as they soar through the air.

According to the newspaper, an enlarged penis could be used to alter athletes' ski jump suit measurement point, thereby securing a larger, more aerodynamic suit for the duration of the season.

The World Anti-Doping Agency on Thursday said it would be on the lookout ​for any evidence, and the sport's ​governing International Ski and Snowboard Federation sought to dismiss the affair as "wild rumour".

But the ‍issue has drawn attention partly because suit manipulation has previously led to sanctions in the sport.

Two Norwegian Olympic medallists, Marius Lindvik and Johann Andre Forfang, were suspended for ‌three months last year ​after their team were found to have secretly adjusted seams around the crotch area of their suits at the 2025 World Ski Championships.

(With AP, AFP and Reuters)