{"id":291431,"date":"2026-02-14T18:57:09","date_gmt":"2026-02-14T18:57:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/291431\/"},"modified":"2026-02-14T18:57:09","modified_gmt":"2026-02-14T18:57:09","slug":"israel-marks-history-but-no-major-wins-in-first-week-at-2026-winter-olympics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/291431\/","title":{"rendered":"Israel marks history but no major wins in first week at 2026 Winter Olympics"},"content":{"rendered":"

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.<\/p>\n

On Friday evening, Israel\u2019s Jared Firestone<\/a> completed his 4th heat in skeleton in 22nd place out of the 24 competitors, ending his Olympic run.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just wrapped up my competition last night, it was a storybook ending,\u201d Firestone said in a video message to fans. \u201cIt was a dream come true and I couldn\u2019t have done it without you, without everybody in Israel.\u201d<\/p>\n

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: \u201cI\u2019m excited for civilian life.\u201d<\/p>\n

He is the second-ever skeleton athlete to compete for Israel at the Olympics, after AJ Edelman<\/a> \u2014 who is leading this year\u2019s Olympic bobsleigh team \u2014 became the first at the 2018 Games.<\/p>\n

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Also on Friday, Israel\u2019s Attila Mihaly Kertesz just managed to accomplish his goal of not finishing last in the men\u2019s 10km cross-country freestyle ski race.<\/p>\n

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: \u201cI\u2019m absolutely exhausted,\u201d he said in a video message after the race. \u201cThank you everybody for supporting me.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\"\"<\/a>
\n\t\tIsrael\u2019s Attila Mihaly Kertesz competes in the men\u2019s 10km cross-country skiing race at the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympics in Lago, Italy, February 13, 2026. (REUTERS\/Kai Pfaffenbach)<\/p>\n

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\u2019s first-ever Olympic cross-country skier, to \u201cgive back to my nation.\u201d<\/p>\n

In an interview with<\/a> The Times of Israel in December, Kertesz noted the likelihood that he would finish at the end of the pack: \u201cEverybody is preparing very hard, because nobody wants to be the last in the Olympic Games \u2013 but somebody has to,\u201d he said at the time.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\u201cToday was a very tough day,\u201d said Szollos in a video message on Saturday. \u201cYesterday, after the training, I was brought home in an ambulance \u2014 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\"\"<\/a>
\n\t\tIsrael\u2019s Barnabas Szollos passes a gate in the first run of the men\u2019s 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)<\/p>\n

Saturday\u2019s 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.\u00a0He has one event left to go at the Olympics \u2014 the slalom on Monday.<\/p>\n

On Sunday, his sister, Noa Szollos, will compete in her first event \u2014 the women\u2019s giant slalom, and on Wednesday she\u2019ll ski in the slalom.<\/p>\n

Also up this coming week: the bobsleigh\u2019s 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\u2019s free skate; and the four-man bobsleigh team will slide on Saturday and next Sunday.<\/p>\n


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