In a shock move, Israel’s bobsleigh team was barred by Israeli Olympic officials from completing its competition on Sunday in the four-man event at the 2026 Winter Games.
In a statement to The Times of Israel early Sunday, the Olympic Committee of Israel said it disqualified the team from competing after one of its athletes lied to Olympic officials in order to allow their teammate, Ward Fawarseh, to compete in their stead.
Israel competed Saturday in the first two runs of the event with the team consisting of AJ Edelman, Menachem Chen, Uri Zisman and Omer Katz. As of Sunday morning, the team was still slated to compete according to the official schedule, but with Edelman, Chen, Fawarseh and Katz.
Had he taken to the ice, Fawarseh would have been Israel’s first-ever Druze Olympian. But he went to the Games officially as an alternate, and wouldn’t be allowed to compete unless another member of the team 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,” said the Olympic Committee 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.”
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Afterward, the OCI said, Zisman “admitted to the head of the delegation that he had acted improperly. This forced the Olympic Committee of Israel to withdraw the request and disqualify the move.”
The OCI said that the team’s behavior was “improper” and “goes against fair and sportsmanlike conduct.”
Israel’s AJ Edelman (left) Menachem Chen, Uri Zisman and Omer Katz slide down the track during a four-man bobsleigh run at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy, February 21, 2026. (AP/Aijaz Rahi)
In a statement posted to Instagram Sunday morning, Edelman wrote that since the team was not in a competitive position and had no chance of winning, “it was more important to us that our alternate could have the opportunity to compete in the Olympics.”
However, he wrote, “the circumstances under which we made the substitution did not meet the high bar that allows a team to make a lineup change, and we withdrew from our final run.”
Edelman said the team is “sorry that this will not end for us in the way we had hoped,” but that it is “proud of the history we made representing Israel.”
Following its first two runs on Saturday, the team was in 24th place out of 27 competitors after three sleds crashed during the second run. Only the top 20 sleds qualify for the fourth and final heat.
The bobsleigh team had been at the center of controversy throughout its time at the Milano Cortina Games, in part due to its high profile in the Israeli delegation, fueled by Edelman’s strong social media presence.
The team made history as Israel’s first-ever Olympic bobsleigh team, and as one of the only groups to compete for Israel in a Winter Olympics team event. Throughout its time in Cortina, the team garnered considerable press coverage and attention.
Israel’s Adam Edelman, left, slides down the track during a four man bobsled training session at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy, Feb. 18, 2026. (AP/Alessandra Tarantino)
Last week, a Swiss commentator came under fire after he spoke over the team’s entire run in the two-man bobsleigh event with commentary accusing Edelman of “supporting genocide” and questioning if he should be eligible to compete due to his political positions.
The Swiss RTS public broadcaster later said it had pulled the remarks from its digital platforms, saying that while they were “factual,” they were “inappropriate due to its length within the context of a sports commentary.”
Then on Saturday, the RAI Italian public broadcaster apologized after an off-air comment that called for “avoiding” any discussion of the Israeli bobsleigh team during its first heats in the four-man competition.
The interim director of RAI Sport called the comment an “unacceptable expression” and said that “immediate internal reviews have been launched to determine responsibility.”
The 2026 Winter Olympics are set to wrap up on Sunday, with Israeli skier Barnabas Szollos slated to be the country’s flag-bearer during Sunday night’s closing ceremony.
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