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NJ skaters compete for Israel at Olympics
For someone on the verge of competing in the marquee event of amateur sports, Galit Chait seems remarkably
composed. Then again, it is the third time at the Winter Olympics for Chait and her ice dancing partner, Sergei Sakhnovski.
The skaters, who are members of the Israeli team, practice at Floyd Hall Arena, located on the campus of Montclair State University in Little Falls.
“The rink is great,” Chait said in a telephone interview between practice sessions. “We have really good ice time, and they’re very accommodating, and they’re great to us.”
Chait was born in Israel but moved to the United States with her family when she was an infant; Sakhnovski was born in Moscow, made aliya as a teenager, and subsequently moved to the States. They have been working together for 11 years. Both live in Freehold these days, as do Chait’s parents; her father, Boris, is chair of the Israeli Ice Skating Federation.
Improbable as it seems, there are “a lot” of skaters in Israel, Chait claimed. The country will send four of its best, along with one skier, to Torino, Italy, for the 2006 games, being held Feb. 10-26. There is one rink in Israel — in Metulla, near the Lebanese border — but Chait was stymied when asked where one could practice skiing in the Jewish state. “I have no idea,” she said. “That’s a good question.” (Actually, Mount Hermon, near the Syrian border, has a modest ski resort.)
Chait and Sakhnovski are constantly reminded that the hopes of their nation rest on their performance. Athletes representing Israel have won five medals. Yael Arad and Oren Smadga earned theirs for judo in Albertville/Barcelona in 1992. Gal Fridman won a bronze for Mistral sailing (windsurfing) in Atlanta in 1996 and Israel’s first gold medal in the 2004 games in Athens. Michael Kolganov received the bronze medal in kayak in Sydney in 2000.
“Every interview we’ve given, we’re asked, ‘What medal will you be bringing home?’” said Chait. “They really expect a lot from us. But we try not to think about that. When we’re on the ice, we’re thinking about how to perform, and that really doesn’t enter our minds.”
She did agree that it was important for the team to win Olympic glory. “We’re going to try to do everything in our power to do that. The top 10 teams are all fighting for a medal. Unfortunately, there are only three.”
A lot depends on factors beyond the skaters’ performance, however. Of all the Olympic sports, gymnastics and skating share a reputation for questionable judging.
“We were at the [2006] European Championships in France, and we had the skate of our life. In the first part of the competition — the compulsory dances — the French [pair] fell, I mean they fell, and they beat us,” Chait said. “Everybody had us in second, third place, no lower. People are still talking about it because they say [the judging] was corrupt.” The French team finished in fourth place, ahead of Chait and Sakhnovski, who finished fifth.
Despite the disappointing outcome, Chait, 31, remains philosophical. “What can you do? You just hope for the best and try to skate your best. We just want to repeat those performances, and hopefully we’ll get rewarded.”
This may be their third shot at the Olympics, but that doesn’t make it any less special.
Making the first Olympics in Nagano, Japan, in 1988, said Chait, “was a dream of mine since I was eight. I think I was just in shock; I just remember getting on the ice and seeing the Olympic rings, and I thought, ‘Wow, I’m here.’”
In their second foray, the 2002 games hosted by the United States in Salt Lake City, Chait carried the Israeli flag in the opening ceremonies. “That was unbelievable…. It sent chills up my spine, walking into the stadium with all those athletes, carrying [the] flag.
“This time, I think I know what to expect; it’s a not a shock. I hope it will help us psychologically that we’ve gone through this before.
“Of course it’s exciting. How many people get to go to the Olympics as athletes not once, twice, but three times? It’s a big honor.”
Chait was also excited that Israeli broadcasters will cover the games. With terrorism and political concerns a part of daily life in her native country, she believes the diversion of such a high-profile event will provide a welcome respite. “People have to be able to turn on the TV and not see bad news.”
Any perception of anti-Israel sentiment on the part of their rivals doesn’t enter her picture, she said. “I’ve never been in a situation where we’ve had that problem, thank God. If people feel that, they don’t express it.
“You can’t stop people’s feelings or what they think. In sport, it’s more about what you’re doing with your talent, it’s not where you’re from.”
After Torino, Chait said, she and Sakhnovski may compete for one more year, at the behest of their coach, Alexander Zhulin; the World Figure Skating Championships are coming up in Calgary in March. Eventually the two partners hope to coach, perhaps opening their own school.
“One step at a time,” she said.
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