The Israeli Olympic bobsled team was robbed of thousands of dollars in property and their passports after crooks broke into their Airbnb while they were out training before traveling to Italy for the games, the team’s captain said Saturday.
“While training for the Olympics the @israelbobsled apartment was broken into during their training, thousands of dollars of stuff and passports were stolen. What a season…” team captain Adam “AJ” Edelman posted on X.
Some members of the team still have not arrived in Italy for the Olympics yet and aren’t expected to leave their training base until this coming week.
The Israeli team — which is the first bobsled team from the Jewish State to compete in the winter games — was robbed of their gear, passports suitcases and even their shoes during the break in, Edelman claimed.
“I have to say, the @israelbobsled Team is just such a fine example of how we push forward in difficult circumstances. Such a gross violation… and the boys headed right back to training today. I really believe this team exemplifies the Israeli Spirit,” he posted on X.
The team was training in the Czech Republic ahead of their competition in Italy, and the incident is being investigated by local authorities.
The team, who humurously refer to themselves as “Shul Runnings” was the brainchild of its captain, coach and driver Edelman, who represented Israel in skeleton during the 2018 winter games in South Korea.
“Most Israelis don’t even know there is a winter Olympics,” he told The Post.
The athlete, who was born in Brookline Mass., said representing Israel in bobsled at the Olympics was the culmination of a decade-long dream.
Israel is competing in bobsled at the Olympics for the first time, qualifying for the games after Britain decided not to take one of its two allocated spots for Milan Cortina. @realajedelman / X
“Really wanted to change things, there had to be someone who changed how people see Jews in sport and how Jews see themselves in sport,” he told The Post.
Edelman, whose brother is US stand-up comedian Alex Edelman, said that he sacrificed everything to build the Israeli bobsled team from scratch, and persevered even when nobody believed in his vision.
“Everyone basically slammed the door in our face,” he said.
Start your day with all you need to know
Morning Report delivers the latest news, videos, photos and more.
Thanks for signing up!
The athlete struggled to find sponsors, and bought equipment for the team with money he earned driving for Uber, he even sunk his retirement savings into the effort. He personally recruited team members off of Instagram and had to train the Israelis — some of whom have never seen snow before — himself.
He finally was able to secure a sponsor who gave the team a large sum on one condition, that they include not an ad, but a Torah verse on their sled.
“I didn’t know G-d was in this place, but surely he is,” the quote, from Genesis 28:16, read.
His dreams finally came to fruition in January when it was announced that the team would have a spot at this year’s games after Britain opted to only send one bobsled team instead of two to Italy.
With Post Wires