Israel makes history but no major wins in first week at 2026 Winter Olympics

Skeleton’s Jared Firestone ends Olympic run in 22nd place, as country’s first-ever cross-country skier crosses the finish line second to last at Milano Cortina Games

By Amy Spiro

You will receive email alerts from this author. Manage alert preferences on your profile page

You will no longer receive email alerts from this author. Manage alert preferences on your profile page

14 February 2026, 7:58 pm

Edit

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

A week into the 2026 Winter Olympics, and Israel has made history at the Milano Cortina Games just by showing up, though it has yet to mark any major athletic achievements.

On Friday evening, Israel’s Jared Firestone completed his 4th heat in skeleton in 22nd place out of the 24 competitors, ending his Olympic run.

“I just wrapped up my competition last night, it was a storybook ending,” Firestone said in a video message to fans. “It was a dream come true and I couldn’t have done it without you, without everybody in Israel.”

Firestone, 35, told The Times of Israel in an interview last month that his final Olympic run will be his last slide, after chasing the Olympic dream for close to a decade: “I’m excited for civilian life.”

He is the second-ever skeleton athlete to compete for Israel at the Olympics, after AJ Edelman — who is leading this year’s Olympic bobsleigh team — became the first at the 2018 Games.

Also on Friday, Israel’s Attila Mihaly Kertesz just managed to accomplish his goal of not finishing last in the men’s 10km cross-country freestyle ski race.

Kertesz crossed the finish line second to last, officially taking 110th place out of 113 athletes with a time of 31:24:4, after two skiers did not finish the race: “I’m absolutely exhausted,” he said in a video message after the race. “Thank you everybody for supporting me.”

Israel’s Attila Mihaly Kertesz competes in the men’s 10km cross-country skiing race at the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympics in Lago, Italy, February 13, 2026. (REUTERS/Kai Pfaffenbach)

Kertesz, a native of Hungary who lives in Thailand, became an Israeli citizen in 2024 after several years of trying, and made history as Israel’s first-ever Olympic cross-country skier, to “give back to my nation.”

In an interview with The Times of Israel in December, Kertesz noted the likelihood that he would finish at the end of the pack: “Everybody is preparing very hard, because nobody wants to be the last in the Olympic Games – but somebody has to,” he said at the time.

On Saturday, Israeli skier Barnabas Szollos finished 41st overall out of 81 skiers following two runs in the giant slalom, after an injury a day earlier.

“Today was a very tough day,” said Szollos in a video message on Saturday. “Yesterday, after the training, I was brought home in an ambulance — had a bit of an accident. This morning, I was not sure if I could even do the race today, but I was not willing to give up; I was not willing to disappoint anyone.”

Israel’s Barnabas Szollos passes a gate in the first run of the men’s giant slalom alpine skiing event during the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games at the Stelvio Ski Centre in Bormio (Valtellina) on February 14, 2026 (Fabrice COFFRINI / AFP)

Saturday’s event was the third so far at the Games for Szollos, who finished 33rd in the super-G race on Wednesday, and last Saturday completed the downhill in 30th place. He has one event left to go at the Olympics — the slalom on Monday.

On Sunday, his sister, Noa Szollos, will compete in her first event — the women’s giant slalom, and on Wednesday she’ll ski in the slalom.

Also up this coming week: the bobsleigh’s two-man team will compete on Monday and Tuesday; figure skater Mariia Seniuk will take to the ice Tuesday for the short program, aiming for a spot in Thursday’s free skate; and the four-man bobsleigh team will slide on Saturday and next Sunday.