Israeli bobsled captain opens up on team overcoming burglary and vandalism to make history in Winter Olympics

AJ Edelman didn't believe the news when he heard it. 

The first ever Israeli bobsled team to make the Olympics, that he captains, was the victim of burglary and vandalism just days before they were set to compete. Edelman, who was in Venice, Italy, at the time, found out in a text from his teammates, who were at the hotel in Prague. 

"It was messages that I didn't understand, it's something that I couldn't conceive of. They were like, ‘hey the place is turned over. Someone showered and stole our stuff,’ and I was like, ‘What that doesn’t make sense.' I thought it was a joke at first," Edelman told Fox News Digital. 

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"We got fingerprinted and everything, they went through the whole process of a serious break-in."

Once the situation settled in, it was something they realized they were prepared to handle and overcome. It was the type of thing they were used to. 

"It was just another Tuesday for us," Edelman said. 

"One of the things that we've all come together and realized is we just move forward. Every single step of the journey is another step toward the goal. And we haven't reached the goal yet. The goal is never qualification, the goal is to compete at the Olympic Games … 

"It was a gross violation, you feel very violated in your space, but I just told them ‘hey guys, this is just who we are, we just got to move on. Whether it was targeted, not targeted, I think it was targeted, but no matter what, we're moving on." 

The team clinched the nation's first ever bobsled winter Olympic spot after missing out on a chance to compete in Beijing in 2022 by 0.01 second in the qualifiers. But the athletes literally had to a fight a war before getting another chance at the world stage. 

After the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas attacks on Israel, many of the athletes were called to serve in the nation's military.

Edelman himself had to live below the poverty line in order to maintain his commitment to leading the team for the last 12 years. An MIT grad, Edelman had to sell his bitcoin, which he says would have been worth millions today if he held onto it. 

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And all the while, he and his teammates had to face many other instances similar to the recent burglary. 

"We've been turned away from staying from places in Germany because it was Christmas Eve and they saw that we're Jewish. Another athlete who is competing in The Games this time actually said that he wouldn't ever compete on this team because Israel is a bunch of ‘baby killers.’ A swastika was drawn on our team van," Edelman said. 

"There's a lot of stuff that goes into representing Israel. But the great thing about representing Israel, and I think this is super important, is you learn to take a mindset that is one of a victor not a victim… if you're a victor and you truly view yourself as on a good mission … then those moments, they don't mean so much." 

Edelman even has sympathy for the perpetrators of the recent burglary and vandalism against his team. 

"It's pretty sad. I'm not in their shoes. I don't know if this is motivated by necessity or need, or what's going on. But I hope you get better. I really hope that your life turns around," Edelman said. "These are things that we can replace. But if that's compelling you to do what you did, I just hope you get help."

Edelman and his teammates will be looking to send inspiration to the rest of their country, especially the young people in Israel who aspire to do something unlikely. 

Israel has never fielded an Olympic bobsled team before, and in a sport that is heavily dependent on resources, the likelihood of it happening was low. 

They playfully dubbed their team "Shul Runnings," putting a Hebrew-themed twist on the popular 1993 film "Cool Runnings" about the first Jamaican bobsled team to make the Olympics. 

Edelman's brother Alex is a popular American comedian, and they went back and forth about the name years ago. 

"I believe I did," AJ said of who came up with the name, "He then incorporated it into his show, into his HBO special." 

But even after overcoming the odds, and off-the-track adversity, Edelman is keeping a rational expectation of how his team will perform. 

He does not expect that they will reach the medal podium, but aspire to make it into the top 20, which he believes will set an inspiring precedent for other Israelis aspiring to compete in cold-weather sports.

"One thing I try to tell my boys, is that in a couple weeks, no one is going to remember our names. No one knows our name now. But they're going to remember that the Israeli bobsled team made it, and it's going to have ripple effects far beyond what we know personally in our lives," Edelman said. 

"Everything that we've done is going to end for us in two weeks … I'm retiring, this is my final games, but the team is going to live on, and what it accomplished are going to live on." 

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