Israel limps away from Winter Olympics overshadowed by bobsleigh team’s drama

Israel knew it never had a shot at a medal at the 2026 Winter Olympic Games. Its goal was to show up, compete, wave the Israeli flag and walk away with its head held high.

Now it can’t even do that.

Sunday should have capped off Israel’s successful run at the Milano Cortina Olympics. Not successful in terms of medals or new records, but in hard work, perseverance and sportsmanship.

Instead, the end of the Games is marred by news that Israel pulled its four-man bobsleigh team from its final heat after finding out that a member had lied about being unwell in an attempt to allow the team’s alternate to compete instead.

The team appears to have had only the best intentions, seeking to give teammate Ward Fawarseh a chance not only to become Israel’s first-ever Druze Olympian, but also to have his own shot on the ice after putting in years of work alongside them.

But it knowingly broke the rules, and the Olympic Committee of Israel had no choice but to blow the whistle. If it had ever emerged that the OCI knew about the violation and covered it up, the global damage to Israel’s sporting reputation would have been a thousandfold.

The team was already under the spotlight, including after a Swiss TV commentator called into question its eligibility to compete, citing captain AJ Edelman’s “support of genocide” in Gaza. The OCI demanded an apology for the remarks, asserting that all of its athletes were participating “in full accordance with the criteria and procedures established by the International Olympic Committee.”

Now the team’s actions only provided fuel to those who didn’t want it to race — many of whom are publicly celebrating the disqualification.

The five other Israeli athletes who competed under the flag in Milano Cortina did the country proud, yet their accomplishments are now, unfortunately, overshadowed.

Technically, Israel’s best result came from Jared Firestone, who placed 22nd in the men’s skeleton out of 24 competitors. Arguably, the country’s best result was when alpine skier Barnabas Szollos — who will bear Israel’s flag at Sunday night’s closing ceremony — crossed the men’s slalom finish line in 26th place, after more than half of the 96 competitors failed to complete the challenging race.

Figure skater Mariia Seniuk nailed her short program, winning her a spot in the free skate, where she had an unfortunate fall during her routine that left her in 24th position.

Cross-country skier Attila Mihaly Kertesz may have crossed the finish line in second-to-last place in the 10km race, but he did so triumphantly.

And Noa Szollos put in a valiant effort to finish 35th out of 75 athletes in the women’s giant slalom, before failing to complete the slalom race.

Milano Cortina hosted an Olympics filled with scandals and head-scratching moments from the hilarious to the puzzling — a Norwegian biathlete won a bronze medal then publicly confessed to cheating on his girlfriend; a Canadian’s expletive-laden rant after being accused of cheating in curling sparked thousands of memes; an investigation was opened to check whether ski jumpers were injecting their genitals with acid to make them swell and provide an aerodynamic lift; and a dog crashed a cross-country skiing course and crossed the finish line.

In the grand scheme of things, Israel pulling its last place-ranked bobsleigh team out of contention from the third heat won’t make a global splash. Its self-disqualification was not nearly the most damning, salacious or interesting scandal of the Games.

But for those publicly rooting for Israel to fail, it was a win.

In a TV interview last week, Edelman was asked about the controversy over the Swiss TV commentator’s remarks.

“What we accomplished today, some kid is going to see in 10, 15, 20 years, and he’s going to be inspired by that to do his own journey,” Edelman said. “What happened yesterday [on Swiss TV]? No one’s going to remember that.”

Now, the legacy of the team is likely to be something else entirely.