In shadow of war, Israel's Winter Paralympian is ready to ski - but not on Shabbat

Sheina Vaspi to skip two events at 2026 Milano Cortina Games due to Shabbat observance, but vows to ensure Israeli flag flies at Paralympic Games

By Amy Spiro

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6 March 2026, 4:07 am

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Amy Spiro is a reporter and writer with The Times of Israel

As war rages at home, Israeli Winter Paralympian Sheina Vaspi will hit the slopes next week in Cortina — after skipping her first event since it is scheduled for Shabbat.

The Milano Cortina Paralympic Games kick off with Friday night’s opening ceremony, and Vaspi’s first event would have been the downhill on Saturday.

But Vaspi, 24, who grew up in a Chabad home in Yesud Hama’ala in northern Israel, does not compete on Shabbat, and will be missing the downhill event — unless weather conditions force it to be postponed.

Instead, Vaspi is slated to make her Cortina debut on Monday in the women’s Super-G standing event. She will then compete on Tuesday in the alpine combined and on Thursday in the giant slalom. She will again skip the slalom event next Saturday, March 14, unless it also happens to be rescheduled.

Vaspi is Israel’s first-ever and still only Winter Paralympian, returning to the Games next week four years after her debut in Beijing in 2022. In those games, Vaspi skied only in the giant slalom and was forced to skip the slalom when it was rescheduled from Sunday to Saturday due to expected high temperatures.

They have been a very tough four years for Vaspi, with the loss of her cousin, Cpt. (res.) Arnon Benveniste Vaspi, who was killed in November 2023 while fighting in Gaza, as well as her beloved grandmother, coupled with a serious injury that sidelined her for months.

Israel’s Sheina Vaspi competes in the women’s giant slalom standing alpine skiing event at the Yanqing National Alpine Skiing Center in Yanqing during the Beijing 2022 Winter Paralympic Games on March 11, 2022. (Wang Zhao / AFP)

“For me, to represent Israel, especially now, has enormous significance, because of what we all went through in the past two years — it wasn’t easy,” Vaspi said in a video message shared by the Israel Paralympic Committee on Tuesday. “And for me personally, these past two years haven’t been easy at all.”

But no matter what, said Vaspi, “I chose to keep going, in part because of the knowledge that without me, the flag of Israel won’t be at the Paralympic Games, and in my eyes it’s so important just to be there.”

As a young child, Vaspi lost her left leg in a traffic accident. She began skiing as a teenager and fell in love with the sport, qualifying for the 2022 Games where she finished 15th in the giant slalom. In January 2025, she suffered a tough injury that sidelined her for months, but she fought her way back to the slopes.

“I returned this season after tearing my ACL in my only knee, and when it’s the only knee, it makes it that much more challenging,” she said. “My cousin, who was killed in the war, Arnon Benveniste, would say — and would prove it himself — that if you want something, you can do it.”

Through it all, Vaspi said, “My goal is to be on that mountain and know that I didn’t leave a single thing behind.”