Media

“The goal of the initiative is to bring Israel’s largest delegation ever to the 2026 Winter Olympics,” Firestone tells ISRAEL21c. “To create an ecosystem to allow that number to grow in 2030, in 2034 and so on.” 

“I come across many people each year who haven’t met any Jews before and have misconceptions. Sports does a better job than almost anything else at removing misconceptions just because of the unity between athletes. These are my rivals, we’re competing for the same Olympic spots, but at the end of the day, we relate to each other more than anyone else,” he said.

In lieu of advertisements this year, Firestone has been putting stickers of Oct. 7 hostages on his sled. Firestone felt a sense of pride that athletes and spectators came up to him and asked about the hostage situation and he could educate them on the developments."

One day after Edson Bindilatti won his first ever two-man bobsled gold, Israel’s Jared Firestone won his first ever men’s skeleton gold with a win in Lake Placid.

Firestone opened up a big .44 second lead over Czechia’s Sebastian Zeleznik after one run, with Ireland’s Brendan Doyle in third.

On the second run Doyle had the fastest run of the medal contenders to leapfrog Zeleznik and move into the lead with only Firestone to go. Firestone had trouble off the start, but put down a good enough slide to maintain a lead over Doyle and win his first IBSF gold medal.

Firestone’s gold medal was his third straight to start his season, and sixth dating back to the 2021/2022 sesaon.

The bobsled/skeleton track in Germany is about 2 ½ miles from Eagle’s Nest, Hitler’s vacation home. When Jared Firestone of Hollywood, Florida, competed on that track last season as a member of the Israeli team, he made sure to wear a helmet he had specially emblazoned with the Star of David.

“It was important for me to have the Jewish star on my helmet where everyone could see it,” he said.

Firestone, 30, made headlines when on Jan. 26 he won a bronze medal in the sport of skeleton at the North American Cup in Park City, Utah — the first time an Israeli has earned a spot on the podium in that sport.

"Athlete Jared Firestone of Hollywood earned Israel’s first-ever podium finish in the sport of skeleton when he won a bronze medal at the IBSF (International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation) North American Cup in Park City, UT."

"Following your dreams is never easy. It takes time, dedication, sacrifice, and as they say in Israel, chutzpah."

מאמר זה ב"ידיעות אמריקה" מסביר
 בעברית כיצד התגליתי על ישראל,
 ועל דרכי עד 2022.