A Ukrainian biathlete was reprimanded for wearing “Stop War” earrings at the 2026 Paralympics

Ukrainian Paralympics-2026 participant, parabiathlete Oleksandra Kononova, received a warning from the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) because she wore earrings with the words “Stop War” on the opening competition day, March 7.

The athlete told this in a comment to Suspilne.

Kononova won her second individual medal at the 2026 Games. She first took gold in the parabiathlon sprint in the standing class, and then added bronze in the individual race.

“After the sprint they warned me and said that according to the regulations ‘Stop War’ on earrings isn’t allowed, even though I raced in them. I feel comfortable because I was prepared that they might comment. It’s my emotional state—when I put on patriotic earrings, clothes, my uniform, the flag,” Kononova said.

After the warning, the biathlete competed wearing different patriotic earrings: the word “LOVE” in yellow-and-blue colors, where the letter “O” was replaced by a map of Ukraine.

The 35-year-old Kononova was born in Russia’s Yaroslavl region. As a child she developed osteomyelitis affecting the bones of her right arm. That is why she competes in parabiathlon in class LW8 (standing athletes with impairment of one upper limb) and shoots using only one hand. Kononova previously competed at the Paralympics in Vancouver, where she won two golds, and also in Sochi and Beijing, where she won a silver medal.

As a reminder, at the Olympics the International Olympic Committee banned skeleton racer Vladyslav Heraskevychfrom competing because of a helmet featuring photos of deceased athletes. Later, the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne rejected Heraskevych’s lawsuit against the IOC and the International Bobsleigh & Skeleton Federation (IBSF), thereby upholding his exclusion from the Olympic Games.