Swiss sports commentator Stefan Renna launched a fierce attack at the Israeli bobsleigh team and its captain, AJ (Adam) Edelman, during the RTS broadcast of Monday\u2019s two-man competition at the 2026 Winter Olympics.<\/p>\n
As Edelman and his teammate, Menachem Chen, began their run, Renna highlighted past statements by Edelman, describing him as a first-time Olympian who has referred to himself as a \u201cZionist to the core.” Renna alleged that Edelman had posted messages on social media in support of what he termed \u201cthe genocide in Gaza,” adding that the term \u201cgenocide” had been used by a UN commission of inquiry. He further quoted Edelman as having described Israel\u2019s military intervention as \u201cthe morally most just war in history.”<\/p>\n
Renna also referenced an incident in which Edelman reportedly mocked a \u201cfree Palestine” slogan painted on a wall during a World Cup stage event. In addition, he cited a message in which Edelman asked followers to send strength to a member of the Israeli team who was engaged in an Israeli army operation in 2023.<\/p>\n
During the broadcast, Renna questioned how Edelman was permitted to compete in the 2026 Winter Olympics, noting that the International Olympic Committee has stated that athletes who have publicly supported war would not be allowed to participate. He drew a comparison to Russian athletes who have been suspended for expressing support for their country\u2019s war against Ukraine.<\/p>\n
Renna further questioned Edelman\u2019s participation in light of the reported disqualification of Ukrainian skeleton racer Vladyslav Heraskevych, who was barred from competing after wearing a helmet honoring compatriots killed in the war with Russia.<\/p>\n
Edelman and Chen ultimately finished in last place in Monday\u2019s two-man race.<\/p>\n
Responding to the broadcast, Edelman issued a sharply worded statement rejecting Renna\u2019s remarks and defending his team\u2019s presence at the Games. He characterized the commentary as a “diatribe” and emphasized the circumstances under which the Israeli team had reached the Olympic stage.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am aware of the diatribe the commentator directed towards the Israeli Bobsled Team on the Swiss Olympics broadcast today.<\/p>\n
\u201cI can’t help but notice the contrast: Shul Runnings is a team of 6 proud Israelis who’ve made it to the Olympic stage. No coach with us. No big program. Just a dream, grit, and unyielding pride in who we represent. Working together towards an incredible goal and crushing it. Because that’s what Israelis do.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don’t think it’s possible to witness that and give any credence to the commentary.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe look forward to our final 2-man run and then crushing the 4-man event, our specialty.”<\/p>\n
US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee also weighed in, writing, \u201cBeyond disgusting that the Jew-hating Swiss \u2018sportscaster\u2019 spewed bigotry & bile at Israel Olympic Bobsled team & its captain AJ Edelman as they competed.”<\/p>\n
The Israeli team, competing under the name \u201cShul Runnings,” marked a historic appearance for the country in Olympic bobsleigh. Edelman previously represented Israel in skeleton and has been central to efforts to establish sliding sports infrastructure for Israeli athletes. Despite limited resources and operating without the backing of a large national program, the team qualified for the 2026 Games and is scheduled to compete in additional events later in the week.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Swiss sports commentator Stefan Renna launched a fierce attack at the Israeli bobsleigh team and its captain, AJ…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":10412,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[8070,1821,87,41,17,2352],"class_list":{"0":"post-10411","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-switzerland","8":"tag-anti-israel-bias","9":"tag-olympic-games","10":"tag-olympics","11":"tag-swiss","12":"tag-switzerland","13":"tag-winter-olympics"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10411","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10411"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10411\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10412"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10411"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10411"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10411"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}