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| Native name | אדם אדלמן | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Full name | Adam Jeremy Edelman | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Nickname(s) | A. J. The Hebrew Hammer | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Born | (1991-03-14)March 14, 1991 (age 34) Boston, Massachusetts, U.S. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Education | Massachusetts Institute of Technology(BS) Yale School of Management(MBA '23) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Years active | 2014–2018 (skeleton) 2019–present (bobsled) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 83 kg (183 lb) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Website | israelbobsled.team | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Country | Israel | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Coached by | Self-coached | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Adam Jeremy "A. J." EdelmanOLY (Hebrew:אדם ג'רמי אדלמן; born March 14, 1991) is an American-bornIsraeli sliding sports athlete. He is an eight-time Israeli National Champion in sliding sport (skeleton andBobsleigh)[1] who competed forIsrael at the 2018 Winter Olympics inPyeongchang, South Korea.[2] Edelman is the first Orthodox Jew to compete in the Winter Olympics, and the first Orthodox Jewish man to compete in either Olympic iteration.[3] In 2023, Edelman became the first ever Israeli to take a podium in a sanctioned Bobsled race and in March, 2024 became the first Israeli to secure the overall podium on the North American Cup.[4] Edelman is training for the 2026 Olympic Games.[5]
Adam Edelman was born inBoston, Massachusetts, and grew up inBrookline, Massachusetts.[6] He was raised in a],Modern Orthodox Jewish home by parents Cheryl (a lawyer) andElazer Edelman (a biomedical engineer, physician, professor, and inventor).[7] He is the middle of three boys. His older brother is comedianAlex Edelman who helped foundOff the Wall Comedy inJerusalem.[8][9]
Edelman graduated from theMassachusetts Institute of Technology in 2014 with a degree inmechanical engineering.[10] He was a member of the MIT Men's hockey team and a staff editorial columnist for the MIT newspaper,The Tech.[10] MIT PresidentRafael Reif's 2018 commencement address used Edelman's Olympic journey as a basis of his message to the graduating class.[11]
Edelmanimmigrated to Israel in 2016 and trained atWingate Institute.[12] He is adual American-Israeli citizen.[9][7] He is an MBA candidate at theYale School of Management.[13]
Edelman is nicknamed the "Hebrew Hammer," a reference to the title character in the 2003 American comedy filmThe Hebrew Hammer.[10]
Edelman has said he is a supporter of anti-bullying and mental health initiatives, and that his motivation for continuing in sport is largely a desire "to use my Olympic journey as a platform to promote further Jewish and Israeli involvement in sport."[14][15] He was named a 2021 European Forbes 30 Under 30 in the Sports and Games category for his efforts of using his platform to campaign against bullying and increase LGBTQ participation in sport.[16]
Edelman's first sport was ice hockey, which he began playing at age three, as a goaltender.[17][7] He continued to play hockey through high school for the Brookline Warriors hockey team and at MIT, where he was the program's first ever sabbath observant player.[10] Edelman helped theMIT Engineers win two divisional championships[18] in theNortheast Collegiate Hockey Association (NECHA) Division II league.
Edelman competed as anNGA accredited bodybuilder,[19] placing in a top-3 medal finish at the 2014 NGA Annapolis Bodybuilding Championships.[20]
Edelman tried skeleton for the first time at the Olympic facilities in Lake Placid, NY in March 2014[15] where he was given an assessment that he would never be competitive.[13][21][22] TheIsraeli team was similarly told that Edelman would "get down the track but that’ll be the most of it."[23] Nevertheless, Edelman set out a goal of qualifying for the 2022 Olympics.[24][9] Lacking funds, Edelman could not afford a coach and was self-taught.[25][26][27] He reinforced his learning of the sport by watching nearly 12 hours of YouTube video daily.[28][13][7][19][29]
In his first race at the 2014 North American Cup, Edelman finished 18.64 seconds behind the race winner,[30] and after hearing another athlete indicate that given his poor performance Edelman would quit within 2 years, decided to focus on making the 2018 Olympics, rather than 2022.[18] In the 2018 Olympic qualification season, Edelman had cut this deficit to 1.19 seconds, placing ninth.[31]
In 2016, he decided to quit the sport and return to work, but changed his mind at the last minute and decided to train full-time, resigning from his job as a product manager at Oracle.[32]
Edelman entered the final days of 2018 Olympic qualification outside of qualification position, needing two medal performances in the Lake Placid North American Cup races to jump up the ranking table. He secured Israel's first sliding sport Olympic berth by earning a fifth place medal in both races.[15][33][34]
Edelman competed forIsrael at the 2018 Winter Olympics inPyeongChang, South Korea, finishing in 28th place.[35]
Edelman competed in two World Championships for Israel,[17] and retired from skeleton as Israel's most decorated slider, winning four Israeli national titles and two medals in IBSF-sanctioned international competition, the most of any Israeli sliding sport athlete.[36][10][34][33]
Post-skeleton, Edelman unsuccessfully attempted to qualify an Israeli bobsled team for the 2022 Beijing Olympics.[5][37][38]
In 2023, five of Edelman's teammates were drafted to serve in theIsrael Defense Forces in theGaza War (2023-present). Edelman strung together a season by bringing in new athletes in each race for theIBSF North American Circuit, ultimately winning Israels first ever sanctioned Bobsleigh podium.[4][39]
Edelman is a recipient ofJew in the City's Orthodox Jewish All Star award.[40] Some of his equipment is on display at theJewish Sports Hall of Fame inCommack, NY.[41][unreliable source]
Edelman attended Maimonides Day School, where he and his older brother Alex, now a comedian in LA...
