In the span of just a few days, house builder Chaim Raice from Pomona, NY, went from never having been on a bobsled to being a contender to represent Israel in the 2022 Winter Olympics. It all started when Raice was browsing Facebook in November and saw a post that the Israeli bobsled team needed another athlete to compete in the North American Cup. Raice, 46, had Israeli citizenship, qualifying him to compete for the country. Raice and his partner, Dave Nicholls, finished in 11th place, ahead of two teams that were unable to complete the race.
The Israeli bobsled team is based in the United States but all of the athletes have Israeli citizenship, whether from birth or from making aliyah.
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