| Roman Zaretsky | |
|---|---|
 Roman and Alexandra Zaretsky in 2009 | |
| Full name | Roman Zaretsky |
| Other names | Zaretski |
| Born | (1983-12-04)December 4, 1983 (age 41) Minsk,Belarus SSR |
| Hometown | Metulla, Israel |
| Height | 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) |
| Figure skating career | |
| Country |  Israel |
| Partner | Alexandra Zaretsky |
| Skating club | Kochavim on the Ice |
| Began skating | 1987 |
| Retired | June 20, 2010 |
Roman Zaretsky (Hebrew:רומן זרצקי,Russian:Роман Зарецкий,Belarusian:Раман Зарэцкі; born December 4, 1983) is an Israeli retiredice dancer. With his sister,Alexandra Zaretsky, he is the2009 Skate America bronze medalist,2009 Golden Spin of Zagreb champion, a three-timeNebelhorn Trophy medalist, and a three-timeIsraeli national champion. They finished 6th at the World Championships and competed twice at the Winter Olympics, finishing 10th in 2010.
Roman Zaretsky was born on December 4, 1983, inMinsk,Belarus SSR,Soviet Union.[1] The Zaretsky family was Jewish andmade aliyah, settling inMetula,Israel, in 1990.[2] Roman Zaretsky completed hisarmy service just before the 2005–2006 season began. He speaks fluent Hebrew, Russian, and English.[3]
Roman Zaretsky began learning to skate at the age of four inMinsk.[3][2] He originally competed as a single skater, winning medals for his age group. When he wanted to switch to ice dancing, his sister was the only available girl at the rink, so their parents put them together.[4] She was seven and he was 11 when they switched to ice dancing.[3] They were coached by their mother until 2001, when they relocated for training to the United States.[5][2]
The siblings debuted on theISU Junior Grand Prix series in October 2001, placing 11th inThe Hague, Netherlands. They placed 19th at the2002 World Junior Championships inHamar, Norway.
In September 2002, the Zaretskys became the first Israeli figure skaters to medal on theISU Junior Grand Prix series, taking bronze inBelgrade, Serbia. After winning another bronze, at a JGP event inChemnitz, Germany, they were named the first alternates for a spot at the JGP Final. In January 2003, the siblings became the first Israelis to medal at theEuropean Youth Olympic Festival.[6] They went on to finish eighth at the2003 World Junior Championships inOstrava, Czech Republic. They were coached byIrina Romanova andIgor Yaroshenko inWilmington, Delaware.[4]
Competing in their third JGP season, the Zaretskys won silver inMexico City, Mexico, and then gold inGdańsk, Poland. They qualified for the first time to the JGP Final, where they would finish sixth. They placed ninth at the2004 World Junior Championships inThe Hague, Netherlands.
In their final JGP season, the Zaretskys took bronze inChemnitz, Germany, and then silver inMiercurea Ciuc, Romania. In December, they placed eighth at the JGP Final inHelsinki, Finland. They decided to change coaches, switching toEvgeni Platov in January 2005.[7] In March, they competed at the2005 World Junior Championships inKitchener, Ontario, Canada. Ranked third in the compulsory dance, fourth in the original dance, and fifth in the free dance, they finished fourth overall.
The Zaretskys debuted on the seniorGrand Prix series, placing 9th at both of their assignments. They were required to finish at least 15th at the2006 European Championships in order to be sent to the Olympics as Israel's second team.[7] They accomplished this and were sent to Torino, where they placed 22nd.
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. FollowingGalit Chait /Sergei Sakhnovski's retirement at the end of the previous season, the siblings became the top Israeli ice dancing team. They won the bronze medal at the2006 Nebelhorn Trophy, a senior "B" international, and finished just off the podium at the2006 Cup of China. They finished 11th at the2007 Europeans and 14th at the2007 World Championships. They were coached by Platov inLittle Falls, New Jersey until the end of the season.[8]
The Zaretskys began their season with a new coaching team, having joinedGalit Chait,Nikolai Morozov andMathew Gates inHackensack, New Jersey.[9]
They competed at two Grand Prix events,2007 Skate America and2007 Cup of China, repeating their 4th-place finish in China. They finished 8th at the2008 Europeans and 9th at the2008 World Championships, setting a new personal best score.
In October 2008, the Zaretskys and their coachGalit Chait filed a lawsuit against the Ice House training rink inHackensack, 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.[10]
The siblings had an up and down season, winning their first international event, the2009 Winter Universiade, but placing lower at both the2009 Europeans and2009 World Championships than they had the previous year.
After a 5th-place finish at the2009 Cup of China, the siblings won their first Grand Prix medal – bronze at the2009 Skate America after placing fourth in the compulsory dance, third in the original dance, and second in the free dance. They were named third alternates for the Grand Prix Final. The Zaretskys won their next event, the2009 Golden Spin of Zagreb, and skated to 7th place at the2010 European Championships, their career-best result at that event.
Based on their top-ten finish at the Europeans, the Zaretskys met their national criterion for the2010 Winter Olympics inVancouver.[11] There, in February 2010 they performed to music fromSchindler's List in thefree dance,[12] having chosen the music in part to honor 27 family members who died inMinsk during theHolocaust.[13] They finished tenth, setting new personal best scores in the free dance and overall. They went on to finish 6th at2010 Worlds, again setting personal bests in the free dance and overall.
The Zaretskys announced their retirement from competitive skating on June 20, 2010, citing a lack of support from their federation as the reason.[14][15]
The Zaretskys later performed in various ice shows, including Shall We Dance on Ice, and coached together for several years inHouston, Texas.[16]
(with Alexandra Zaretsky)
| Season | Original dance | Free dance |
|---|---|---|
| 2001–2002 [17][18] |
|
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| 2002–2003 [18][19] |
| |
| 2003–2004 [18][20][21] |
|
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| 2004–2005 [18][22] |
| |
| 2005–2006 [18][23] |
|
|
| 2006–2007 [18][8] |
| |
| 2007–2008 [18][9] |
|
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| 2008–2009 [18][24][25] |
|
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| 2009–2010 [18][1] |
|
GP:Grand Prix; JGP:Junior Grand Prix
| International[26] | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Event | 00–01 | 01–02 | 02–03 | 03–04 | 04–05 | 05–06 | 06–07 | 07–08 | 08–09 | 09–10 |
| Olympics | 22nd | 10th | ||||||||
| Worlds | 20th | 14th | 9th | 13th | 6th | |||||
| Europeans | 15th | 11th | 8th | 11th | 7th | |||||
| GPCup of China | 9th | 4th | 4th | 7th | 5th | |||||
| GPCup of Russia | 5th | |||||||||
| GPNHK Trophy | 9th | |||||||||
| GPSkate America | 8th | 7th | 3rd | |||||||
| Golden Spin | 1st | |||||||||
| Nebelhorn | 3rd | 2nd | 2nd | |||||||
| Skate Israel | 4th | 4th | ||||||||
| Universiade | 1st | |||||||||
| International: Junior[26] | ||||||||||
| Junior Worlds | 19th | 8th | 9th | 4th | ||||||
| JGPFinal | 6th | 8th | ||||||||
| JGPGermany | 3rd | 3rd | ||||||||
| JGPItaly | 8th | |||||||||
| JGPMexico | 2nd | |||||||||
| JGPNetherlands | 11th | |||||||||
| JGPPoland | 1st | |||||||||
| JGPRomania | 2nd | |||||||||
| JGPSerbia | 3rd | |||||||||
| EYOF | 3rd | |||||||||
| National[26] | ||||||||||
| Israeli Champ. | 1st J | 1st J | 1st J | 1st J | 2nd | 1st | 1st | 1st | ||
