{"id":1363657,"date":"2026-02-28T10:55:47","date_gmt":"2026-02-28T08:55:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/prm.ua\/civic-stance-against-sports-regalia-does-bubka-deserve-the-title-of-hero\/"},"modified":"2026-03-03T07:41:53","modified_gmt":"2026-03-03T05:41:53","slug":"civic-stance-against-sports-regalia-does-bubka-deserve-the-title-of-hero","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/prm.ua\/en\/civic-stance-against-sports-regalia-does-bubka-deserve-the-title-of-hero\/","title":{"rendered":"Hero or Hoodie? Bubka\u2019s Medal-Worthy Wardrobe Under Fire"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em>Source: Author&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/boris.kusniruk\/posts\/pfbid0LAcLpkqgLjNX6QJbnrf5wRSzMAB1ozK9P62ZKutTFhUupKfgmADutWGmy3MJfUFYl\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Facebook<\/a> page<\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong>The debate over Vladyslav Geraskevych\u2019s proposal to strip Serhiy Bubka of the title of Hero of Ukraine has sparked surprising controversy, revealing a deep confusion of concepts. Critics of the initiative typically defend Bubka by comparing the athletes&#8217; achievements and meticulously cataloging the awards of the former world record holder.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>However, it is worth realizing that the subject of the dispute is not sports achievements but a fundamental civic position. The fact that Mr. Bubka has effectively severed ties with his own state is a sad but undeniable reality. The activities of the Bubok family business in the temporarily occupied territories of the Donetsk region are equally obvious.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Life outside the context of war<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The former outstanding athlete left Ukraine in the fall of 2022, not yet 60 years old. Today, he lives in his own estate in France and works in the IOC structures. It is noteworthy that he did not voice any protests against the return of Russian and Belarusian athletes to the international arena under their national flags.<br \/>\nRecords and Olympic gold do not automatically make a person a patriot. The examples of some champions who later changed their citizenship to Russian or distanced themselves from Ukraine\u2019s interests only confirm this point. One can be proud of an athlete\u2019s achievements only when they identify with the country that raised them. Unfortunately, this does not apply to Serhiy Bubka today.<\/p>\n\t\t<aside class=\"shortcode-also\" data-title=\"Read also\" >\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/prm.ua\/en\/geraskevychs-disqualification-why-the-ioc-still-tolerates-russian-aggression\/\">Geraskevych&#8217;s disqualification: why the IOC still tolerates Russian aggression<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\n<p><strong>Questions for the law enforcement system<\/strong><br \/>\nA separate issue is the effectiveness of law enforcement agencies. The SBU investigation into the Bubka family\u2019s business, announced back in 2023, has yet to produce any results. This is reminiscent of other high-profile cases:<\/p>\n<p>\u2022 Lack of real steps regarding the anti-Ukrainian activities of the Russian special services agent with the call sign &#8220;Kazbek&#8221;;<br \/>\n\u2022 Ignoring questions from former SBU head Ivan Bakanov.<\/p>\n<p>The public, media, and politicians have every right to demand a report from the SBU. If the facts of cooperation with the occupiers are confirmed, this should result not in formal &#8220;after-the-fact&#8221; proceedings but in specific criminal cases and court sentences.<\/p>\n<p>If guilt is legally proven, the question of whether one should hold Ukraine\u2019s highest state award becomes irrelevant\u2014it will no longer be open to debate.<\/p>\n\t\t<aside class=\"shortcode-also\" data-title=\"Read also\" data-right>\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/prm.ua\/en\/ukrainians-disqualified-bubka-and-borzov\/\">Bubka and Borzov Prove Once Again: Dignity Is Overrated, Cash Is King \u2013 Ukrainians Watch in Awe<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\n<p><em>As a reminder, Ukrainian skeletonist Vladyslav Geraskevych, who was not allowed to perform at the Olympic Games wearing a \u201cmemory helmet,\u201d called for <a href=\"https:\/\/prm.ua\/pidihraie-rosii-i-znyshchuie-ukrainu-heraskevych-zaklykav-pozbavyty-bubku-zvannia-heroia-ukrainy\/\">Sergey Bubka to be stripped of the title of Hero of Ukraine<\/a>. According to him, Bubka is \u201cplaying along with Russia\u201d and \u201cdestroying Ukraine\u201d\u2014trading with the occupiers and allowing Russian flags in the organization he heads.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>As is well known, the International Olympic Committee <a href=\"https:\/\/prm.ua\/vladyslava-heraskevycha-ne-pustyly-na-olimpiadu-cherez-sholom-pam-iati\/\">suspended Ukrainian skeleton athlete Vladyslav Geraskevych<\/a> from competition because he intended to wear a \u201cmemory helmet\u201d featuring portraits of Ukrainian athletes who died in Russia\u2019s war against Ukraine. In doing so, the IOC revealed double standards, including in its treatment of Geraskevych himself.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1761\" data-end=\"2097\"><em>Despite <a href=\"https:\/\/prm.ua\/olimpiada-2026-mok-zaboronyv-ukrainskomu-skeletonistu-vshanuvaty-zahyblykh-sportsmeniv\/\">an IOC ban<\/a>, Vladyslav <a href=\"https:\/\/prm.ua\/heraskevych-vyyshov-na-trenuvannia-v-sholomi-pam-iati-popry-zaboronu-mok\/\">Geraskevych went out to train on the Olympic track wearing a \u201cmemory helmet\u201d<\/a> with images of athletes who died during the war with Russia. The IOC banned him from using this helmet in competitive events, and before making its decision, it noted that the athlete\u2019s equipment \u201cdoes not comply with the rules.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Also follow <strong>\u201cPryamim\u201d<\/strong> on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pryamiy\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Facebook<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/prm_ua\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">X<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/t.me\/+rtV4dxYu2_cyNjVi\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Telegram<\/a>, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/pryamiy\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Instagram.<\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 10pt;\"><em>\u2022 Materials published in the \u201cOPINIONS\u201d section reflect the opinion of the author of the publication, who bears full responsibility for the accuracy of the information.<\/em><\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-size: 10pt;\"><em>\u2022 The editorial staff of prm.ua may not share the opinions expressed in the author&#8217;s material.<\/em><\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-size: 10pt;\"><em>\u2022 The owner of the webpage in the \u201cOPINIONS\u201d section is the author of the publication.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Source: Author&#8217;s Facebook page The debate over Vladyslav Geraskevych\u2019s proposal to strip Serhiy Bubka of the title of Hero of Ukraine has sparked surprising controversy, revealing a deep confusion of concepts. Critics of the initiative typically defend Bubka by comparing the athletes&#8217; achievements and meticulously cataloging the awards of the former world record holder. However, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":57,"featured_media":1363651,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ep_exclude_from_search":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[76871,76872,76893],"class_list":["post-1363657","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-2","category-news-feed","category-thoughts"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/prm.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1363657","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/prm.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/prm.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prm.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/57"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prm.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1363657"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/prm.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1363657\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1364620,"href":"https:\/\/prm.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1363657\/revisions\/1364620"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prm.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1363651"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/prm.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1363657"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prm.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1363657"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}