I'm not certain how memorializing dead people is political. Those dead people are his homies.
this post was submitted on 12 Feb 2026
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Would it be political if it was dead friends of another nationality? What about dead friends that died in an earlier conflict that's no longer in progress?
Shit position to take from the IOC
Sadly for this guy, there has to be a line somewhere.
Its reasonable that athletes cant compete wearing politically incendiary motifs.
You could argue that these fallen comrades are not political, but you could also argue that they are.
Allowing him to show the helmet before, after, and during press interviews seems like a reasonable compromise to me.
You could argue them letting Roland Fischnaller wear a helmet with the Russian tricolor was political too. Whatever the athlete's reason.
The fact is the IOC have a history of cracking down in dumb ways that support some sides over others.
The IOC claims to be politically neutral but then you have the president of the IOC giving speeches about solidarity and a vision for the world coming together through sport. That's political right there in and of itself whether they like it or not.
Just reddit mods on steroids.
You don't see a difference between a speech about solidarity and portraying war victims on your helmet?
There'll be people applauding when you show up covered in pictures of the right dead people, but I don't think it's a very good idea to turn the olympics into a parade for such things.
I really don't see this as some sort of slippery slope. This is a clear war of aggression with no moral ambiguity.
What if an Armenian wears images of genocide victims when competing against someone from Turkey? Someone from Turkey wearing ancestors genocided by Russia? Someone from Russia with those genocided by Ukrainian nazi collaborators?
You can call all of these cases morally just but what good would it do to add that shit to the olympics?
If it was a relative who died defending from a burglary, it wouldn't be political, let's not abuse the word.
Try to fit fallen palestinian athletes in one helmet I dare you.
It's not allowed.