You probably didn't know that Israel has a bobsled team (note: aficionados call it bobsleigh). But it does. The team, a Canada-based group of Diaspora media darlings (they haven't gotten much local press) dubbed the "Frozen Chosen," has been active in North American, World Cup and even two World Championships events in the last few years.
The team has proudly painted the Magen David on its high-tech sled, which has slipped and slid its way down bobsled courses in North America and Europe. It even ran at a spot in Germany once favored by Adolf Hitler.
I spoke to their leader, David Greaves, who holds Canadian and Israeli citizenship, last spring and he was optimistic at the time about the group's chance at qualifying for the Winter Olympics in Turin next month. But the team isn't going anywhere fast, because our Olympic Committee, by all accounts a crony-ridden, insular and self-important group, has failed (I'm being polite; I should say refused) to give the sledders a letter certifying their representation of Israel. The letter would have gotten the team into this winter's European Challenge Cup, one of the key venues for qualifying for the Turin Games.
Stung by such jokes as Eddie "the Eagle," a U.K. ski jumper who frightened TV viewers worldwide and even himself in the 1988 Winter Olympics as he staggered down the 90-meter hill in Calgary, Canada, the International Olympic Committee began tightening qualifying standards for many sports (Edwards finished 56th of 57 jumpers, and number 57 was disqualified).
Fair enough. The "Frozen Chosen" were prepared to fight their way into the group of 30 teams that will make it to the Winter Games. They were not in the elite group of 22 national teams ticketed to Turin from past performances. They were going to have to compete for a handful of final spots by proving themselves on the tough international Grand Prix circuit.
They were making progress, too. The two-man sled squad (it takes a team of four or more to put a two-man team on the ice on a regular basis) came in 34th in the 2004 World Championships, up from 36th the year before. But they were only tenths of a second away from the coveted 30th slot. They were practicing hard on cutting literally two-tenths of a second off their time.
They raised all of their own money - and took not a frozen shekel from the Israel Olympic Committee's pockets. They have estimated their annual budget at USD 100,000, and have thousands overseas, with the other expenses coming out of their own pockets. The group spent last year attempting to get the Olympic Committee's attention, but failed to do so. Now, the lack of a sanctioning letter has wiped out the team's 2005-2006 season, and the intrepid is regrouping for a new run at the 2010 Games in Vancouver, British Columbia.
I have read some sports chat list talk recently criticizing the team for not being "Israeli" enough. Baloney. If any Israelis make it to the Winter Games, it is likely to be the ice dancing team of Galit Chait and Sergei Sakhnovski. The two have been medal winners in major skating events worldwide the last few years. Last month, the pair came in fourth at the International Skating Union Grand Prix Final in Tokyo, after snagging silver medals in competitions in Beijing and St. Petersburg. Except for showing up here occasionally, Chait (Israeli-born but U.S. raised) and Sakhnovski have virtually no local connection. They train in Connecticut and travel the world for skating competitions.
But Galit and Sergei are Israeli enough for me, and they deserve our support - and so do the bobsledders. The sled team has come a long way with no support either from official sources or from almost anyone else here, either. (Don't complain that they're in Canada. Only a handful of countries in the world even have a bobsled track, and Israel surely isn't one of them).
You will know the trend has come full circle when Saudi Arabia sends a team to the Winter Olympics.
2 comments:
Do you think the Jamaicans realized that they were trendsetters?
Having lived in Calgary in the 80s (unfortunately before the Olympics) I have often thought that it was probably the only city in the world that would make allowances for both the Jamaican Bobsled Team and Eddy the Eagle.
Bless all of their hearts.
Jamaicans are the new Irish. I read somewhere that worldwide there are an estimated 18 million passport Jamaican passport holders but there are only approximately 3 million on the island. Oddly enough, there is even a orthodox jewish reggae rapper.
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