Adam Edelman, captain of the Israeli bobsled team, revealed that the apartment where he and his teammates were staying during their final training for the Milan Cortina Winter Games was robbed Saturday. The thieves made off with passports and personal belongings worth “thousands of dollars.”
Edelman took to X to inform fans of the incident, posting an image of what appears to be someone being fingerprinted.
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… pic.twitter.com/6Y9cDPofbC
— AJ Edelman, OLY (@realajedelman) February 7, 2026
The team was training in the Czech Republic before heading to Italy, according to the New York Post, and the matter is currently under investigation by local police. Not all members of the team have made it to Italy, with some remaining at a confidential training base and scheduled to travel later this week.
Edelman told The Associated Press that he was in Italy at the time of the robbery. He said the team’s coach, Itamar Shprinz, was on-site.
“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 — suitcases, shoes, equipment, passports stolen, and the boys headed right back to training today. I really believe this team exemplifies the Israeli Spirit,” Edelman wrote on social media.
Edelman, who competed in skeleton at the 2018 Pyeongchang Games, is believed to be the first Orthodox Jew to participate in a Winter Olympics. He told The Athletic that in addition to recruiting team members, securing financial support for their Olympic dream was also a lengthy process, but that representing his country was “the honor of a lifetime.”
Israel’s participation in the Olympics comes at a time when the nation’s involvement in international sports has sparked boycotts, bans, and significant criticism due to the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Gaza following Israel’s military action there.
Edelman will drive both sleds as Israel will compete in the two-man and four-man bobsled events. In the two-man race, he’ll be pushed by Menachem Chen, while Ward Fawarseh and Omer Katz will join them for the four-man event. Until this season, most of the team members had never even ridden in a bobsled, he told The Athletic. The full squad — Edelman, Katz, Fawarseh, Chen and Uri Zisman — is set to begin official training in Cortina d’Ampezzo on Thursday.