Israeli Olympic officials have disqualified Israel’s four-man bobsleigh team from finishing their event today, Times of Israel reported on Sunday.
The Olympic Committee of Israel told the publication that it has prevented the country’s four-man bobsleigh team from taking part in today’s competition after one athlete provided false information to officials to let teammate Ward Fawarseh compete in his place.
Per the report, Israel had raced on Saturday with Adam Edelman, Menachem Chen, Uri Zisman, and Omer Katz. Although the team was originally scheduled to compete this morning with Edelman, Chen, Fawarseh, and Katz, the disqualification has halted their participation.
Fawarseh would have become Israel’s first Druze Olympian had he competed, but he arrived at the Games as an alternate and was only permitted to race if another team member was unwell.
“The bobsleigh team asked to include Ward, the substitute, in the competition. According to the rules, this is only permitted if one of the athletes is injured or ill,” the Olympic Committee of Israel said, according to Times of Israel.
“In order to make this possible, one of the team members — encouraged by his teammates — declared that he was unwell. He even went for a medical examination and signed an affidavit so that the Olympic Committee could request approval for a substitution.”
After admitting that he had lied, the athlete told the head of the delegation that he “had acted improperly,” forcing the Olympic Committee to withdraw the request and disqualify the move, the OCI said.
The committee called the team’s actions “improper” and said they “go against fair and sportsmanlike conduct.”
After the first two runs on Saturday, Israel’s team was in 24th place out of 27, following crashes by three sleds during the second run.
Previous controversy
The team had made headlines earlier this week as well when a commentator on Swiss channel RTS said Adam Edelman’s supportive comments of Israel’s more-than-two-year bombardment of Gaza, which has resulted in the deaths of over 70,000 people and the destruction of most of the territory’s infrastructure, should have resulted in him being barred from the Olympics.
“Edelman, first appearance at an Olympic Games, who defines himself and I quote ‘as a Zionist to the core’,” remarked the commentator, Stefan Renna, as Edelman and teammate Chen began their two-man bobsleigh run on Monday.
The commentator went on to tell viewers that Edelman had posted on social media “in favour of the genocide in Gaza. I remind you that genocide is the term used by the United Nations commission of inquiry”.
Renna also commented that Edelman had “said the Israeli military intervention was, I quote, the most morally justified war in history”.
He suggested Edelman should have been barred from the Milan-Cortina Games on the same basis that the International Olympic Committee (IOC) refused to allow Russian athletes to appear if they had made pro-war remarks regarding their country’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
Edelman was furious and hit back on his Instagram account.
“I am aware of the diatribe the commentator directed towards the Israeli bobsled team on the Swiss Olympic broadcast today,” he wrote.
“I can’t help but notice the contrast: Shul Runnings is a team of 6 proud Israelis who’ve made it to the Olympic stage,” he said in a reference to the Israeli team’s nickname, a play on the film “Cool Runnings” about the debut of the Jamaican bobsleigh team at the 1988 Winter Olympics.
“No coach with us. No big program. Just a dream, grit and unyielding pride in who we represent. Working together towards such an incredible goal and crushing it. Because that’s what Israelis do. I don’t think it’s possible to witness that and give credence to this commentary.”
The Israeli embassy in Switzerland reacted robustly to the commentary.
“We are deeply appalled by the blatant abuse of a live Olympic broadcast by a Swiss RTS journalist,” the embassy posted on their X.
They demanded that action be taken against the journalist.
“@RadioTeleSuisse must publicly address this misconduct, issue a clear apology, and take decisive action against the journalist responsible.”
IOC spokesperson Mark Adams said it was not for them to comment.
“In terms of specific comments by a commentator, that is a matter you have to refer to the broadcaster,” he said at the IOC daily briefing at the Winter Olympics.
