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Alexandra Zaretski

The Zaretskis in 2006.
Personal information
Full name:	Alexandra Zaretski
Country represented:	Israel
Date of birth:	December 23, 1987 (1987-12-23) (age 22)
Place of birth:	Minsk, Belarus SSR
Home town:	Metulla, Israel
Height:	1.60 m (5 ft 3 in)
Partner:	Roman Zaretski
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
ISU personal best scores
Combined Total:	179.21 2008 Worlds
Comp. Dance:	37.59 2004 JGP Romania
Original Dance:	58.10 2008 Worlds
Free Dance:	88.60 2008 Worlds

Alexandra "Sasha" Zaretski (Hebrew: אלכסנדרה זרצקי‎, Russian: Александра Зарецкая, Alexandra Zaretskaya) (born December 23, 1987) is an Israeli ice dancer. She competes with her brother Roman Zaretski.

Personal life

Alexandra Zaretski was born in Minsk, Belarus SSR, Soviet Union.

Originally from Minsk, the Zaretski family made aliyah as soon as the borders opened. Alexandra Zaretski was three at the time. She was raised in Metula, Israel where her parents work as coaches.

Alexandra Zaretski speaks fluent Hebrew, Russian, and English. She currently lives and trains in New Jersey.

In October 2008 the Zaretskis 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.^[1]

Career

She originally skated as a single skater, winning age group medals. When Roman wanted to switch to ice dancing, his sister was the only available girl at the rink, so their parents teamed them up together.^[2] They have been skating together ever since.

She and her brother Roman were originally coached by their parents. They were later coached by Romanova and Yaroshenko in Wilmington, Delaware.^[2] They switched to Platov in January 2005.^[3] 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 Zaretskis briefly trained in Moscow because Platov was taking part in a skating reality show. They then returned to Montclair, New Jersey where they still train.

The Zaretskis are the first Israelis to medal at the Junior Winter Olympics^[4] as well as the first Israeli figure skaters to medal internationally on the junior level. In 2005/2006 Olympic season, the second-ranked Israeli dance team retired. Israel had two spots to the Olympics because of the placement of Galit Chait and Sergei Sakhnovski at the 2005 World Championships. The Israeli Olympic Committee said the Zaretskis would be sent to the Olympics if they placed at least 15th at the 2006 European Championships</ref>:: Welcome To The Jewish Ledger ::</ref> The Zaretskis accomplished this and were sent to Torino, where they placed 22nd.

Following the Olympic season, Chait and Sacknovski took some time off and eventually retired, leaving the Zaretskis to carry the torch of Israeli ice dancing. They won the bronze medal at the 2006 Nebelhorn Trophy, a senior "B" international, and placed just off the podium at the Cup of China. The Zaretskis nearly won Israel a second spot to the 2008 European Championships, finishing in 11th place at the 2007 Europeans. However, this point would have been moot because they are the only Israeli senior-level ice dance team. They were 14th at the 2007 World Championships.

The Zaretskis competed at both 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.

Programs

The Zaretskis during their Phantom of the Opera free dance.

Competitive highlights

(with Zaretski)

Post-2004

Pre-2004

• N = Novice level; J = Junior level

References

External links

• Official Site
• Zaretski & Zaretski at the International Skating Union