Israel’s Olympic Bobsled Team Was Officially “Disqualified” For Blatant Lie

A fake illness claim ended Israel’s Olympic run.

Israel’s four-man Olympic bobsled team will not compete in the final runs after its own officials pulled the team out of the event over a fake illness issue.

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The team raced on Saturday in the first two heats of the four-man competition. The lineup included AJ Edelman, Menachem Chen, Uri Zisman, and Omer Katz. Early Sunday, Israel was still listed to compete in the finals.

However, the lineup suddenly changed. Officials removed Zisman and replaced him with alternate Ward Fawarseh.

That decision raised red flags and led to an investigation. In the end, the officials withdrew Israel from the competition.

Fake Illness Claim Leads To Team’s Removal

Israel’s Bobsled Team (Photo Via X)
Fawarseh came to the Olympics as a backup athlete. The rules say a backup can compete only if another team member is sick or injured.

Zisman, encouraged by his teammates, said he was feeling sick. He went through a medical check and signed a document that allowed the Olympic Committee to request a replacement.

Later, Zisman admitted he was not actually sick.

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He told the head of the delegation that he had acted wrongly. After that, the Olympic Committee of Israel rejected the request to replace him with Fawarseh. The delegation then decided to remove the entire four-man team from the competition.

“Information reached the heads of the Israeli delegation to the Olympic Games indicating that members of the bobsleigh team sought to replace one of the participants in an improper manner that does not meet the standards expected of Olympic athletes and is not aligned with Olympic values,” the Olympic Committee of Israel said in a statement.

“Therefore, it was decided not to allow the bobsleigh team to participate in the competition.”

The Olympic Committee said it made the decision together with the athletes. It strongly criticized what happened and said it takes any unfair behavior very seriously. Officials will review the case fully after the team returns home. For now, they have banned the team from competing indefinitely.

Edelman later spoke about the situation on Instagram. He defended the attempted change and he said the team was in last place after the first runs and had no chance to win a medal. According to him, the athletes simply wanted to give Fawarseh an opportunity to compete.

“Given that our placement going into the final run was all but predetermined, it was more important to use that our alternate could have the opportunity to compete in the Olympics,” Edelman wrote. “The team moved to make the replacement. But the circumstances under which we made the substitution did not meet the bar that allows a team to make a lineup change, and we withdrew from our final run.”

The move cost Israel its place in the finals and cast a shadow over its Olympic campaign.