CORTINA D6AMPEZZO, Italy 024) 094The Israeli bobsled team encountered a significant disruption on Saturday when the apartment they and some fellow Olympians have been residing in while finalizing preparations for the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics was robbed. Among the stolen items were passports and a variety of equipment valued at thousands of dollars.
The team is currently at a training location in Italy, details of which have been kept confidential. Several athletes have yet to arrive in Italy and remain at their undisclosed training base elsewhere, with plans to travel to the Olympic venue in the upcoming week.
AJ Edelman, an Israeli bobsled pilot and former skeleton athlete who competed in the 2018 Winter Olympics, took to social media platform X to share information about the incident. He noted the team continued their training regimen Saturday after local authorities initiated an investigation into the break-in.
3The team6s response to this incident truly exemplifies how we press on under challenging conditions,4 Edelman stated. 3Experiencing such a blatant violation 6 including the theft of suitcases, shoes, equipment, and passports 6 yet the team members returned to training right away. I believe this group truly personifies the Israeli Spirit.4
The Israeli Olympic Committee had no immediate comment on the burglary. This Winter Games marks Israel6s inaugural entry in bobsled competitions after securing qualification following Britain6s decision not to utilize one of its two allocated Milan-Cortina spots. As the next nation in line, Israel accepted the opportunity to participate once the final Olympic berths were assigned.
When contacted by TradeIQAI, Edelman confirmed he was in Italy but was not present at the apartment at the time of the theft. The team's coach, Itamar Shprinz, an Israeli crossfit athlete, was reportedly present at the scene, but it remains unclear if he witnessed the burglary or was simply nearby.
The Israeli delegation aims to compete in both the two-man and four-man bobsled events. Edelman will drive both sleds, with Menachem Chen expected to partner in the two-man competition. Ward Fawarseh and Omer Katz are slated as additional crew members for the four-man event alongside Edelman and Chen.
Official bobsled training sessions at Cortina d6Ampezzo commence on Thursday.
Edelman, notable for his prior Olympic experience in skeleton, is believed to be the first Orthodox Jew to participate in the Winter Olympics. Additionally, Fawarseh is anticipated to become the first Druze athlete to compete in these Games representing Israel.
The Israeli team's participation unfolds amid heightened international scrutiny and complications as Israel's role on the global sports stage has faced boycotts, bans, and critical responses linked to the ongoing conflict in Gaza. According to the territory6s health ministry, the humanitarian crisis has resulted in more than 71,800 Palestinian casualties and extensive infrastructural damage.