The Israeli team dreaming of the Winter Olympics

In the minus 25 degrees cold in Pyongyang, South Korea, an idea that sounds a bit delusional arises: Israel’s first snow sled team is trying to reach the 2022 Beijing Olympics.

The founder of the quartet is Adam Jeremy Edelman. If the name sounds familiar to you, it’s probably because in 2018 he made his own history, when he became the first Israeli in the Skelton (single sledge) competition at the Olympic Games in Pyongyang – where he finished 28th out of 30 participants. Now he has chosen the South Korean website as the training base of the team he founded, with his eyes on the Beijing Games.

Edelman, who will celebrate 30 in two weeks, grew up in a traditional home in Brooklyn, Massachusetts. He was educated in a Jewish school and in 2010 came to Israel to study at a yeshiva in Beit Shemesh. After fulfilling his Olympic dream, and following the failure, he decided to retire and began studying business administration – until a year ago, when he saw his industry friends embark on a renewed journey towards the Olympics. Edelman could not resist the temptation.

Then the idea flashed in his mind: to set up a bobsled team – sledges of four competitors – that fly at a speed of about 150 km / h. To realize it, Edelman took a loan of $ 130,000, bought a sledge and began sending emails to Israeli athletes from industries that require power and speed.

Those who immediately got caught up in the matter were Israel’s three Druze rugby players – Moran Najam (27) from Beit Jen and his cousins ​​residents of Maar, Arad and Amir Puersa (24). “We knew nothing about sledding,” Moran testified in a joint interview of the four. “I only got to see sledges in a movie about the Olympics, when I was little, but I never imagined I would get into this sport, and certainly not be within touching distance of the Olympics. We saw Edelman’s post in July last year, and we contacted him. He explained the process and lit us up.”

Even for two members of the Fuarsa family this was a flight into the unknown. “Before we came here, I watched YouTube and it interested me,” says Amir. “The first time I tried I was very scared, there are injuries, but now we got used to the fact that the adrenaline is addictive.”

Which is more dangerous, getting beaten up in rugby or flying on ice?
“We have not yet rolled over with the sledge, but there are a lot of people here with fractures,” replies Vard, who until a year ago was a fighter in Givati. “Rugby sports are also dangerous, and we try to keep to ourselves.”

How do you cope with the cold?
Moran: “I come from Beit Jen, which is the highest village in the country, so I’m used to a cold of maybe up to minus 5 degrees. Obviously it doesn’t get close to the cold here. Before training you have to do really good warm-up for the muscles, and that’s maybe the hardest part for us.” .

How did the family get what you do?
Moran: “At first they said ‘what for you? It’s dangerous’. But when they saw that we were having fun, they supported and were very proud of us. Getting to the Olympics is every athlete’s dream, and not everyone has such a golden opportunity. We have to take the risk, train hard “And we hope to get there.”

Ward: “A dream, just a dream to get there. If we get there with the help of the name, we will make history not only in Israel but all over the world. There has never been a Druze at the Olympics.”

Have you seen the movie “Jamaica Below Zero”? It’s a similar story.
Moran: “You could say, and maybe one day they will also make a film about us. There is also a special story here, and not only because we are Druze, but also Arabs who want to represent Israel at the Olympics. It does not happen every day, certainly not at the Winter Olympics.”

Amir: “Our goal is not only to reach Beijing 2022, but also to represent and promote our community. There is potential in the Druze community but it is not realized because there is no intention for sports from a young age. Therefore it is very important for us to return home and make as many children as possible. sport”.

Moran: “In the Druze, many parents do not push their children to engage in sports. They need to be taught from an early age that they want to represent the country and reach the Olympics.”

Did you switch to sledding because in this industry there is a greater chance of reaching the Olympics than with the rugby team?
Amir: “There’s something about it, but that’s not the main reason. I believe we will have a chance to get to the Olympics one day in rugby sevens as well.”

Moran: “Most of the sled athletes in the world came from rugby, weightlifting or athletics. They are all fast and strong, and these are the qualities we have too.”

How is your relationship with Edelman?
Moran: “He is a great person. He gives us all the conditions for us to succeed, and we lack nothing. He told and showed us in a video his experiences from the previous Olympics.”

It is an interesting connection, with a religious Jew.
Moran: “We are involved in sports, and we should not look at what nationality or religion it belongs to. Sports is the language of peace among all peoples.”

Ward: “We saw an Iranian judoka defect from his country in favor of sports, and even came to compete in Israel.”

Amir: “In a month we will fly to a rugby tournament in Dubai. The coach wanted us to come, because we speak Arabic and that is another message of peace.”

The team, which also trains for the doubles competition, already made history two weeks ago. She participated in a regional competition in South Korea, and for the first time her friends climbed the podium to receive the silver medal. The host team won gold, and Bard Vietnam.

At the Beijing Olympics, 28 teams will participate in the quarterfinals, and those who receive a ticket will be determined according to the world ranking to be published in January 2022.

“It was very difficult for us at first, because there was a difference between my expectations and reality,” says the initiator and founder of the Edelman team. “They have never seen real competition, and have not experienced such speeds, with blows to the body. We are on the track from eight in the morning to eight in the evening, and that is not what they thought. Besides, imagine what it is to repair the sled in the wind and cold of minus 25 degrees.

“In addition to that, we also have a budget problem. I took out a loan because I did not want the team to die, and today I am financing 88 percent of our expenses. It will not be enough to prepare for next year, the most important, in which we want to meet the Olympic criteria.”

You already have experience in the Olympics.
“True, representing Israel is the greatest honor, and I have the right to do it again, without fear of money and health. I have found the best and strongest athletes who can push the sled quickly.”

How is the connection with them?
“They are great guys. We have a lot of work to do, but we have a great chance to get to Beijing because I am a good driver. With my experience and their strength, we have a perfect team.”