IOC respond after Swiss commentator calls out Israeli athlete during race

A spokesman for the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has addressed the much-talked-about situation involving Israeli bobsleigh captain Adam Edelman and Swiss commentator Stefan Renna.

On Monday, Edelman was taking part in the two-man bobsleigh event at the Egenio Monti Centre in Cortina when Renna questioned the IOC's decision to greenlight his inclusion in this year's Winter Olympic Games.

As Edelman pushed off the start line, Renna began discussing the Israeli athlete and his public position on social media. "Israeli Adam Edelman. Who has described himself as a 'Zionist to the core',' Renna began, as per the Daily Mail.

"I quote him, who has posted several messages on social media in favour of the genocide in Gaza.

"We remind you that 'genocide' is a term used by the UN commission of inquiry on the region. Edelman, who notably said of the Israeli military intervention that it was, again, I quote, 'the most morally just war in history.'

"He also mocked a 'Free Palestine' inscription on a wall in Lillehammer on the sidelines of a World Cup stage. And he asked his followers to send strength to Ward Fawardseh, when this member of the Israeli team, who is present here in Cortina, was engaged in an Israeli army operation in the Gaza Strip in 2023."

Renna questioned whether the athlete should be taking part in this edition of the Games, and mentioned Ukraine's Vladyslav Heraskevych, who was disqualified from the Milan-Cortina Games for refusing to compete without a helmet featuring images of people killed following Russia's invasion.

"One can therefore question his presence in Cortina during these Games, since the IOC had indicated that athletes who, I quote, 'actively supported the war by participating in pro-war events, by being militarily engaged or through their activity on their social media, were not eligible to participate',' added Renna.

"That was in the case of Russian athletes in order to authorise some of them to compete under a neutral banner.

"We will recall that a controversy has already broken out in this Cortina Sliding Centre, because of the refusal of a Ukrainian skeleton athlete to give up a helmet bearing the image of Ukrainian athletes killed at the front or in Russian bombardments.

"The IOC disqualified this skeleton athlete because he infringed, according to the body, the rule on political messages at competition venues. Which shows that sport is obviously political."

IOC spokesman Mark Adams has since responded to the incident in a press conference.

"I would remind everyone involved, however tangentially, in the Olympic Games, of the values and the charter and the idea of us trying to bring people together despite what's happening in the rest of the world," he said, as per the Mail.

"But in terms of specific comments by a commentator on one specific broadcast, I think that's a matter to refer to the broadcaster. So that's not a question for us at this stage."

Taking to social media after the race, Adam Edelman responded to the comments made by Renna.

"I am aware of the diatribe the commentator directed towards the Israeli Bobsled Team on the Swiss Olympics broadcast today," he wrote on X.

"I 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.

"I don't think it's possible to witness that and give any credence to the commentary. We look forward to our final 2man run and then crushing the 4man event, our specialty."

Israel's two-man bobsleigh team, led by Edelman, will race again on Tuesday.