The first-ever Olympic bobsled team from Israel experienced a significant setback when their apartment was burglarized, leading to the theft of their equipment, passports, and thousands of dollars in belongings, as reported by the team on Saturday.
During their training for the Olympics, team captain AJ Edelman shared on social media that their apartment had been broken into, resulting in a considerable loss. “What a season…” he remarked, posting a photo that seemed to show an investigator at the site.
As they prepare for the 2026 Winter Olympics, official bobsled training is set to start Thursday at the Cortina Sliding Center in Italy, located about 165 miles northeast of Milan.
Edelman and his teammates—Menachem Chen, Ward Fawarse, Omer Katz, and alternate Uli Zisman—are the first Israeli bobsled team to compete in the Olympics. Notably, Edelman is also believed to be the first Orthodox Jew to participate in the Winter Olympics, while Fawarse is expected to be the first Druze athlete at the event. The Druze community has significant ties to Israel and is mostly found in Lebanon, Syria, and Israel, where they face human rights issues.
However, the journey to the 2026 Olympics hasn’t been easy. After the deadly Hamas attack on October 7, 2023, several members of Edelman’s original team were unable to continue, and he found himself needing to form a new team and secure funding for training in a country where many people are unfamiliar with snow.
“It’s tough to find a squad ready to commit to bobsledding for years,” he noted. “Most Israelis don’t even know the Winter Olympics exist.” Interestingly, Britain’s decision to send only one bobsled team instead of two opened a pathway for their participation.
The team represents a diverse group of athletes, including pole vaulters, sprinters, shot putters, rugby players, and former Olympic skeleton competitors. They aim for gold in 2026, drawing comparisons to the legendary Jamaican bobsled team from the 1988 Olympics, who faced numerous obstacles to make their mark on the global stage.
In a humorous take, Edelman reimagined the 1993 film “Cool Runnings,” inspired by the Jamaican team’s journey, suggesting the title “Shul Running,” which references the Yiddish word for synagogue.
Despite the robbery, Edelman expressed pride in his team’s resilience, stating, “Suitcases, shoes, equipment, and passports were stolen, but the boys returned to training immediately today. I truly believe that this team embodies the spirit of Israel.”
Meanwhile, as athletes around the globe gear up for their competitions, climate activists in Cortina d’Ampezzo have initiated protests against what they call “unsustainable” wood used in building bobsled tracks.
The complete schedule for the bobsled events at the 2026 Olympics is available through various sports news outlets.
