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A Canadian helped the Israeli Olympic team make history again. This time for bobsleigh
David Greaves is making history with Israeli athletes at the Olympics again — this time for bobsleigh.
“The dream was always an Olympic bobsleigh team,” he said, speaking to National Post ahead of the 2026 Winter Games in Italy. “The total delegation for Israel is nine athletes, so we’re bringing now more than half of the full delegation of athletes. And I can’t tell you how pride-filling that is after this whole journey.”
By day, Greaves is the executive director for the western region of Friends of JNF, a charitable organization dedicated to supporting Israel. He moonlights as the president of the Israeli Olympic Bobsleigh Skeleton Federation. He lives in Winnipeg but is also an Israeli citizen. He was behind American-Israeli athlete AJ Edelman’s skeleton debut at the PyeongChang Winter Olympic Games in 2018. Edelman was the first Israeli to compete in the sport at Olympics. And now he’s part of the country’s first Olympic bobsleigh team.
Since 2018, Greaves and Edelman have continued to put in the work.
Greaves helped put a bobsleigh team together with Edelman at the helm. That was a feat of its own, Greaves pointed out, because skeleton and bobsleigh are completely different disciplines. “He transitioned from a skeleton athlete, and now he’s done sort of the unthinkable, where he’s qualified in a whole different sport,” said Greaves.
The Israeli bobsleigh team was one spot short of qualifying for the the Beijing Winter Games in 2022. Instead of quitting, they recommitted to another four years. It wasn’t without challenges.
In October 2023, they were dealt a devastating blow. Israel was attacked by Hamas terrorists, which sparked war in the Middle East. Nonetheless, training continued. It made them focus on their dream of qualifying for the Olympics even more.
“It becomes more than just for yourself. It becomes more for your country. Becomes more for those who were affected so deeply by October 7. And it’s a deeper sense of pride to say, ‘Here we are,'” he said, referencing a Jewish prayer uttered on high holidays, or Henani , in Hebrew, which means, “Here I am.”
Edelman said over email to National Post that competing for Israel has always felt like the “greatest honour.” But October 7 has strengthened his resolve. Representing the country is “a true dream come true,” he said.
He added that Greaves “is a great example of what it is to see a dream through for Israel.”
“I’m really grateful to call him a friend, and I’m blessed to share the ups of this journey with him, as this most certainly is. We have a shared fate in this, and that’s a pretty nice bond,” Edelman added.
Along with Edelman, Omer Katz, Menachem Chen, Itamar Shprinz, Ward Fawarseh are set to compete in Italy, with Uri Zisman as an alternate.
Greaves said the decision to be involved with the Israeli team stems from his Jewish pride and finally finding a place where he could fit in. Growing up, he attended a Jewish school until Grade 7 and always felt connected to his Jewish identity — but he was still seeking a sense of belonging. He finally felt it when he became part of the original Israeli bobsleigh team in 2002 . Although they never qualified for the Olympics, they competed at the top level.
“I’ve always had this deep desire and love for Israel and my Jewishness and the traditions,” he said. “And this became less about the sport for me and more about the representing of the country.”
When he was competing, he said it gave him chills to hear the announcer say “Israel” over the loudspeaker as the team was about to race down the track. And now, he gets chills again thinking of seeing the Israeli flags that will be featured at this year’s games.
“There will be five venues at this Olympic games that will have the Israeli flag flying there, and we’re part of bringing that flag to a venue, and that is at the end of the day what dreams are made of for us,” he said.
In his hometown of Winnipeg, he said recent antisemitic incidents, including swastikas being spraypainted on a synagogue, have only made the Jewish community closer in defiance of hatred.
“The (Israeli) flag becomes heavier on the back of our jacket. It’s a heavier flag than what most other countries have to feel when they put on their team jacket. And by heavy, I don’t mean a burden. By heavy, I mean it’s an obligation. It’s something that we feel very, very strongly about. And obviously, being on the world stage at the greatest sporting spectacle in the world, to have the Israeli flag on our sled and to have it on our backpacks and on our jackets, it’s like you feel it,” he said.
“That is something that we take a great deal of pride in, and as I said, more than ever, we are dedicated and committed to the State of Israel and to represent it in the most positive light we can.”
Unpublished Newswire
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