Jan. 31, 2003
Israelis win first-ever medal in Junior Winter Olympics
By LIONEL GAFFEN

"History was made today," said Gilad Lustig, director of the elite sports department of the Israel Olympic committee, "when Alexandra and Roman [Zaretsky] went to the podium to receive the bronze medal for the ice dancing. It is the first time in Israel's history that we have won a medal in a Winter Olympics."

At the sixth European Youth Olympic Festival, which was held in Bled, Slovenia, this week, the Zaretskys, ages 15 and 19, narrowly missed taking the second spot in the ice dancing competition by a split decision of the judges.

They also performed a delightful skate in the free dance, skating to music from the soundtrack to the movie Moulin Rouge, which propelled them to third place.

Natalia Mikhailova and Arkadi Sergueev of Russia won first place, while Christina and William Beier of Germany took the second spot, of the 13 couples representing 13 countries.

More than a thousand athletes from 42 countries competed at the festival in such diverse sports as alpine skiing, biathlon, cross country skiing, figure skating, ice hockey, ski jumping and nordic combined.

Israel finished in a three-way tie with Hungary and the Ukraine for 13th place in medals won.
The Zaretskys have had tremendous success this past year, after their coaching was taken over by Irina Romanova and Igor Jaroshenko the 1996 European bronze medalists in ice dancing, skating for the Ukraine in Wilmington, Delaware, where they have been training for the past year and a half.

They began skating at the Canada Center in Metulla at a very young age, and began their ice dancing career at the Canada Center more than five years ago.

This past season has seen a tremendous breakthrough for them, as they captured bronze medals in two Junior Grand Prix events this past fall: in Belgrade and at Chemnitz, marking the first time our juniors have medaled in the Junior Grand Prix. Just recently, they won the National Junior championship at the Canada Center in Metulla, and now continue preparations for the World Junior Figure Skating Championships set to take place in Ostrava of the Czech Republic from February 24-March 2.

Their coach, Irina Romanova, said of the Zaretskys, "They're a very hard working couple, and we were very pleasantly surprised with how quickly they've developed."

Evgeni Krasnopolski, at age 14 one of the youngest competitors at Bled and skating in only his second international event, managed to finish in 20th place, of 22 skaters.

Two of the judges were Israelis who have made aliya in the past few years: Eduard Estis and Gary Hoppe.

Judith Javor, secretary of the Israel Ice Skating Federation, added from Bled: "We're just delighted with the results. Everybody who approached us said that Alexandra and Roman should have won the silver.

"The crowds here have been very friendly, and the atmosphere has been just electric, and although it's been incredibly cold here, the organization of the games has been exemplary."