Ukrainian parabiathlete Oleksandra Kononova was criticized at the Paralympics — because of her Stop War earrings

Ukrainian parabiathlete Oleksandra Kononova received a reprimand from the International Paralympic Committee for wearing earrings with the inscription Stop War to the race.

The athlete told this to Suspilne Sport.

Kononova won two medals in the first two days of competition: gold in the parabiathlon standing sprint and bronze in the individual race.

She competed in the Stop War earrings on March 7, the first day of the competition. After the sprint, an IPC representative made a remark to her, indicating that such an inscription was not allowed under the regulations. The athlete says she feels comfortable because she was prepared for it.

The next day, Kononova went out wearing earrings in the shape of the word Love in the colors of the Ukrainian flag. However, she received a warning for the previous day.

• Earlier, the International Paralympic Committee banned Ukrainian athletes from using a uniform with a globalized map of Ukraine, stating that the uniform was "political".
• At the Milan Olympics, the International Olympic Committee disqualified Ukrainian skeleton athlete Vladyslav Heraskevych for wearing a “memory helmet”.
• Freestyle skier Kateryna Kotsar was also unable to compete in a helmet with the inscription “Be brave like Ukrainian”, and short track skier Oleh Handei was unable to compete in a helmet with the quote from Ukrainian writer Lina Kostenko, “Where heroism takes place, there is no final defeat”.

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