Alexandra Zaretsky

Alexandra Zaretsky

Alexandra and Roman Zaretsky in 2009
Personal information
Full name Alexandra Zaretsky
Alternative names Zaretski
Country represented  Israel
Born (1987-12-23) December 23, 1987
Minsk, Belarus SSR
Home town Metulla, Israel
Residence Houston, Texas
Height 1.60 m (5 ft 3 in)
Partner Roman Zaretsky
Former coach Galit Chait
Nikolai Morozov
Evgeni Platov
Elena Zaretski
Igor Zaretski
Irina Romanova
Igor Yaroshenko
Former choreographer Galit Chait
Nikolai Morozov
Evgeni Platov
Skating club Kochavim on the Ice
Began skating 1994
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. With her brother Roman Zaretsky, she is the 2009 Skate America bronze medalist, 2009 Golden Spin of Zagreb champion, a three-time Nebelhorn Trophy medalist, and a three-time Israeli national champion. They finished as high as 6th at the World Championships and competed twice at the Winter Olympics, finishing 10th in 2010.

Personal life

Alexandra Zaretsky was born in Minsk, Belarus SSR, Soviet Union. 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. She 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]

Career

The Zaretskys perform their Hava Nagila original dance in 2009

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 put them together.[3] She was seven and he was 11 when they switched to ice dancing.[1]

The Zaretskys 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 2005–2006 season, Galit Chait / 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 2006 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 2008–2009, 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 2009–2010. 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, the Zaretskys met their national criterion for the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver.[8] There, in February 2010 they performed to music from Schindler's List in the free dance,[6] having chosen the music in part to honor 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]

Programs

The Zaretskys perform at the 2009 Worlds
Season Original dance Free dance
2001–2002
[12][13]
  • Granada
  • Torero Quiero
2002–2003
[13][14]
2003–2004
[13][15][16]
  • The House
    by Ben Walkins
    performed by Orchestra Juno Reactor Gocoo
  • Evrious Angel
    by Rob Dougan
  • Spybreak
    by Alex Gifford
    performed by the Propellerheads
2004–2005
[13][17]
2005–2006
[13][18]
  • Samba
    performed by Mambo Kings
  • Rhumba
    performed by Mambo Kings
  • Mambo
    performed by Mambo Kings
  • Caravan
2006–2007
[13][19]
2007–2008
[13][20]
  • Shick, Shack, Shock
    by Mustafa Sax
2008–2009
[13][21][22]
  • Lindy Hop: Are you hip to the jive
    by Cab Calloway
  • Swing: Sing, Sing, Sing
    by Louis Prima
2009–2010
[13][23]

Competitive highlights

The Zaretskys with the other medalists at the 2009 Nebelhorn Trophy.

(with Zaretsky)

Results[24]
International
Event 1999–00 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10
Olympics 22nd 10th
Worlds 20th 14th 9th 13th 6th
Europeans 15th 11th 8th 11th 7th
GP Cup of China 9th 4th 4th 7th 5th
GP Cup of Russia 5th
GP NHK Trophy 9th
GP Skate America 8th 7th 3rd
Golden Spin 1st
Nebelhorn 3rd 2nd 2nd
Skate Israel 4th 4th
Universiade 1st
International: Junior or novice
Junior Worlds 19th 8th 9th 4th
JGP Final 6th 8th
JGP Germany 3rd 3rd
JGP Italy 8th
JGP Mexico 2nd
JGP Netherlands 11th
JGP Poland 1st
JGP Romania 2nd
JGP Serbia 3rd
EYOF 3rd
Euro. Crit. Brno 1st
Polish Internat. 1st
National
Israeli Champ. 1st N. 1st J. 1st J. 1st J. 1st J. 2nd 1st 1st 1st
GP = Grand Prix; JGP = Junior Grand Prix
Levels: N. = Novice; J. = Junior

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 Golinsky, Reut (2010). "Alexandra and Roman Zaretsky: "We never left Israel"". Absolute Skating. Retrieved December 1, 2010.
  2. ↑ Ben-Ali, Russell (October 30, 2008). "Skaters, coach sue Hackensack rink". New Jersey Star-Ledger.
  3. 1 2 Mittan, Barry (October 23, 2002). "Zaretskys Add to Israel's Dance Future". GoldenSkate. Retrieved December 1, 2010.
  4. 1 2 "Young Israelis to compete at Skate America". The Jewish Ledger. October 25, 2006.
  5. ↑ McGrath, Charles (January 19, 2010). "Israel’s Winter Athletes Come to U.S. Seeking Ice and Medals". The New York Times.
  6. 1 2 D'Alessandro, Dave (February 23, 2010). "Zaretsky, Reed siblings make Jersey proud in Olympic ice dancing". The Star-Ledger. Retrieved June 8, 2011.
  7. ↑ "MAN OF THE YEAR". The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved January 5, 2011.
  8. ↑ "2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver / Israel's team: Two skaters, a skier". Haaretz. Archived from the original on 30 January 2010. Retrieved January 31, 2010.
  9. ↑ Krieger, Hilary Leila (February 19, 2010). "Zaretskys’ Olympic dance a tribute to their Holocaust losses". The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved June 8, 2011.
  10. ↑ האחים זרצקי פרשו. האבא: "חושש לחייהם" [Zaretsky siblings have retired] (in Hebrew). Ynet.com. Archived from the original on 23 June 2010. Retrieved June 22, 2010.
  11. ↑ Barden, Brett (June 20, 2010). "Zaretskys announce retirement". SkateToday. Retrieved June 8, 2011.
  12. ↑ "Alexandra ZARETSKI / Roman ZARETSKI: 2001/2002". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on February 18, 2002.
  13. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 "Music". ice-dance.com. Archived from the original on June 28, 2011.
  14. ↑ "Alexandra ZARETSKI / Roman ZARETSKI: 2002/2003". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on August 4, 2003.
  15. ↑ "Alexandra ZARETSKI / Roman ZARETSKI: 2003/2004". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on October 13, 2003.
  16. ↑ "Alexandra ZARETSKI / Roman ZARETSKI: 2003/2004". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on June 18, 2004.
  17. ↑ "Alexandra ZARETSKI / Roman ZARETSKI: 2004/2005". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on April 4, 2005.
  18. ↑ "Alexandra ZARETSKI / Roman ZARETSKI: 2005/2006". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on July 2, 2006.
  19. ↑ "Alexandra ZARETSKI / Roman ZARETSKI: 2006/2007". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on July 4, 2007.
  20. ↑ "Alexandra ZARETSKI / Roman ZARETSKI: 2007/2008". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on June 25, 2008.
  21. ↑ "Alexandra ZARETSKI / Roman ZARETSKI: 2008/2009". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on December 26, 2008.
  22. ↑ "Alexandra ZARETSKI / Roman ZARETSKI: 2008/2009". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on June 27, 2009.
  23. ↑ "Alexandra ZARETSKY / Roman ZARETSKY: 2009/2010". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on September 28, 2012.
  24. ↑ "Competition Results: Alexandra ZARETSKY / Roman ZARETSKY". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on October 13, 2012.

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