| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Full name | Alexandra Zaretsky |
| Alternative names | Zaretski |
| Country represented | Israel |
| Born | December 23, 1987 Minsk, Belarus SSR |
| Home town | Metulla, Israel |
| Residence | Houston, Texas |
| Height | 1.60 m (5 ft 3 in) |
| Partner | Roman Zaretsky |
| Coach | Galit Chait |
| Former coach | Nikolai Morozov Evgeni Platov Elena Zaretski Igor Zaretski Irina Romanova Igor Yaroshenko |
| Choreographer | Galit Chait |
| Former choreographer | Nikolai Morozov Evgeni Platov |
| Skating club | Kochavim on the Ice |
| Retired | June 2010 |
| ISU personal best scores | |
| Combined total | 181.26 2010 Worlds |
| Comp. dance | 37.59 2004 JGP Romania |
| Original dance | 58.10 2008 Worlds |
| Free dance | 91.34 2010 Worlds |
Alexandra "Sasha" Zaretsky (Hebrew: אלכסנדרה זרצקי, Russian: Александра Зарецкая, Alexandra Zaretskaya, Belarusian: Аляксандра Зарэцкая) (born December 23, 1987) is an Israeli ice dancer. She competed with her brother Roman Zaretsky. Together, they are three-time Israeli National Champions and two-time Olympic competitors.
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Alexandra Zaretsky was born in Minsk, Belarus SSR, Soviet Union. Originally from Minsk, the Zaretsky family was Jewish and made aliyah soon after this was made possible. Alexandra, who was three years old at the time, was raised in Metula, Israel where her parents work as coaches.
Alexandra Zaretsky speaks fluent Hebrew, Russian, and English.[1]
In October 2008 the Zaretskys and their coach Galit Chait filed a lawsuit against the Ice House training rink in Hackensack, New Jersey, alleging that rink officials discriminated against them on the basis of their Israeli nationality by denying them prime training time and threatening to ban them from the rink.[2]
Alexandra Zaretsky began skating at the age of 6, after starting out in rhythmic gymnastics.[1] She originally skated as a single skater, winning age group medals. When older brother Roman wanted to switch to ice dancing, his sister was the only girl at the rink he could partner, so their parents teamed them up.[3] She was seven and he was 11 when they switched to ice dancing.[1]
Alexandra and Roman were originally coached by their parents. They were later coached by Irina Romanova and Igor Yaroshenko in Wilmington, Delaware,[3] before switching to Evgeni Platov in January 2005.[4] They temporarily went back to being coached by their parents when Roman's army service kept them in Israel. In the summer of 2006, the Zaretskys briefly trained in Moscow because Platov was taking part in a skating reality show and then returned to the U.S. with Platov. They eventually switched coaches to Galit Chait and trained at the Ice House in Hackensack, New Jersey.[5][6]
The Zaretskys are the first Israelis to medal at the Junior Winter Olympics[7] as well as the first Israeli figure skaters to medal internationally on the junior level. In the 2005/2006 season, the Zaretskys debuted on the senior level, and were required to finish at least 15th at the 2006 European Championships in order to be sent to the Olympics as Israel's second team.[4] They accomplished this and were sent to Torino, where they placed 22nd.
After the 2006 season, Galit Chait and Sergei Sakhnovski retired, and the Zaretskys became the top Israeli ice dancing team. They won the bronze medal at the 2006 Nebelhorn Trophy, a senior "B" international, and finished just off the podium at the Cup of China. They finished 11th at the 2007 Europeans and 14th at the 2007 World Championships.
The Zaretskys competed at the 2007 Skate America and 2007 Cup of China Grand Prix competitions, repeating their 4th place finish in China. They finished 8th at the 2008 Europeans and 9th at the 2008 World Championships, setting a new personal best score. They then had an up and down season in 2008-9, winning their first international event, the 2009 Universiade, but placing lower at both the 2009 Europeans and 2009 World Championships than they had the previous year.
The Zaretskys rebounded in 2009–10. After a 5th-place finish at the 2009 Cup of China, the team won their first Grand Prix medal at the 2009 Skate America, where they were second in the free dance, and were named alternates for the Grand Prix Final. The Zaretskys won their next event, the Golden Spin in Zagreb, and skated to a 7th place finish at the 2010 Europeans, their best result yet at that event.
Based on their top ten finish at the Europeans, they met their national criterion for the Vancouver Olympics.[8] There, in February 2010 they performed to music from Schindler's List in the free dance,[6] having partially picked the music in honor of 27 family members who died in Minsk during the Holocaust.[9] They finished tenth, setting new personal best scores in the free dance and overall. They went on to finish 6th at 2010 Worlds, again setting personal bests in the free dance and overall.
The Zaretskys announced their retirement from competitive skating in June 2010, citing a lack of support from their federation as the reason. They intend to pursue coaching careers.[10][11]
| Season | Original dance | Free dance |
|---|---|---|
| 2001–02 | Granada/Torero Quiero | The Ukraine Dean Marshall |
| 2002–03 | Skaters Waltz by J. Strauss Galop: St. Petersburger Sleigh Ride |
Moulin Rouge (soundtrack) by Jose Feliciano |
| 2003–04 | Bad to the bone by George Thorogood Americano by Brian Setzer Orchestra |
The Matrix and Matrix Reloaded |
| 2004–05 | Foxtrot and Quickstep |
Phantom of the Opera by Andrew Lloyd Webber |
| 2005–06 | Samba, Rhumba, Mambo by Mambo Kings |
Caravan |
| 2006–07 | Assassin's Tango by John Powell |
Carmina Burana by Carl Orff |
| 2007–08 | Shick, Shack, Shock by Mustafa Sax |
Let my People Go by Louis Armstrong Sing, Sing, Sing by Louis Prima |
| 2008–09 | Summertime by Louis Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald |
Jesus Christ Superstar by Andrew Lloyd Webber |
| 2009–10 | Hava Nagila | Schindler's List by John Williams |
(with Zaretsky)
| Event | 2004–2005 | 2005–2006 | 2006–2007 | 2007–2008 | 2008–2009 | 2009–2010 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Winter Olympic Games | 22nd | 10th | ||||
| World Championships | 20th | 14th | 9th | 13th | 6th | |
| European Championships | 15th | 11th | 8th | 11th | 7th | |
| World Junior Championships | 4th | |||||
| Israeli Championships | 2nd | 1st | 1st | 1st | ||
| Cup of China | 9th | 4th | 4th | 7th | 5th | |
| Skate America | 8th | 7th | 3rd | |||
| Cup of Russia | 5th | |||||
| NHK Trophy | 9th | |||||
| Nebelhorn Trophy | 3rd | 2nd | 2nd | |||
| Golden Spin of Zagreb | 1st | |||||
| Winter Universiade | 1st | |||||
| Skate Israel | 4th | |||||
| Junior Grand Prix Final | 8th | |||||
| Junior Grand Prix, Romania | 2nd | |||||
| Junior Grand Prix, Germany | 3rd |
| Event | 1999–2000 | 2000–2001 | 2001–2002 | 2002–2003 | 2003–2004 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| World Junior Championships | 19th | 8th | 9th | ||
| Israeli Championships | 1st N. | 1st J. | 1st J. | 1st J. | 1st J. |
| Skate Israel | 4th | ||||
| Junior Grand Prix Final | 6th | ||||
| Junior Grand Prix, Poland | 1st | ||||
| Junior Grand Prix, Mexico | 2nd | ||||
| Junior Grand Prix, Germany | 3rd | ||||
| Junior Grand Prix, Belgrade | 3rd | ||||
| Junior Grand Prix, Italy | 8th | ||||
| Junior Grand Prix, Netherlands | 11th | ||||
| European Youth Olympic Days | 3rd | ||||
| European Criterium Brno | 1st | ||||
| International Polish Competition | 1st | ||||
| N. = Novice level; J. = Junior level | |||||