Szollos becomes best Israeli Olympics skier
In his Winter Olympics debut in Beijing, Israeli skier Barnabas Szollos finished 6th overall in the men’s alpine combined event on February 10, achieving Israel’s best ever Olympic skiing result.
The Hungarian-born 23-year-old equalled the previous best placing in a Winter Olympics event by Israelis, achieved in 2002 by ice dancers Galit Chait and Sergei Sakhnovski.
“To place sixth feels amazing,” he said. “It’s an honour to be here, to represent Israel, and I’m really, really happy.”
Szollos came 30th in both the men’s downhill and the Super-G, 22nd in the giant slalom, and he was due to compete in his last event, the slalom, on February 16.
His younger sister, Noa, also made her Olympic debut, placing 41st in the women’s slalom and 34th in the Super-G.
Israelis in other disciplines had mixed results. Short track speed skater Vladislav Bykanov reached the men’s 1500m semi-finals, finishing 17th, and then made the quarter-finals of the 500m. But figure skater Alexei Bychenko made a costly fall in the men’s short program, bowing out of contention for the free skate final.
Israeli pairs figure skaters Hailey Kops and Evgeni Krasnopolski are due to compete on February 18.
Meanwhile, Jewish athletes representing other countries have fared well overall.
American men’s figure skater Jason Brown impressed with a dazzling display of artistry while skating to music from the Schindler’s List movie, to qualify for the finals, and then achieve a PB score of 184.00, to come 6th.
“I poured my heart into these performances and I hope you could feel it through the screen,” he tweeted afterwards.
Snowboard half pipe men’s athlete Taylor Gold, representing USA, said he felt “stoked” to make his first Olympic final and place 5th overall, having narrowly missed the final in his last Games in 2014.
Gold led the final after the first run, by scoring 81.75, but falls in both of his remaining runs saw him drop four places.
American Emery Lehman placed 11th and 16th in the men’s 1500m and 5000m speed skating events.
Ice hockey action continues this week with Josh Ho-Sang, Jason Demers and Devon Levi representing Canada in the finals.
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