Roman Zaretsky
| Roman Zaretsky | |
|---|---|
 Roman and Alexandra Zaretsky in 2009 |
|
| Personal information | |
| Full name | Roman Zaretsky |
| Alternative names | Zaretski |
| Country represented |  Israel |
| Born | December 4, 1983 Minsk, Belarus SSR |
| Home town | Metulla, Israel |
| Residence | Houston, Texas |
| Height | 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) |
| Partner | Alexandra Zaretsky |
| 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 |
| 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 |
Roman Zaretsky (Hebrew: רומן זרצקי, Russian: Роман Зарецкий, Belarusian: Раман Зарэцкі, born December 4, 1983) is an Israeli ice dancer.
He competed with his sister, Alexandra Zaretsky. Together, they are three-time Israeli National Champions, and two-time Olympic competitors.
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[edit] Personal life
Roman Zaretsky was born in Minsk, Belarus SSR, Soviet Union.
Originally from Minsk, the Zaretsky family was Jewish and made aliyah in 1992. Roman Zaretsky was seven years old at the time. He was raised in Metula, Israel where his parents work as coaches.
Roman Zaretsky completed his army service just before the 2005/2006 season began. He 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]
[edit] Career
He began skating at the age of four.[1] He originally skated as a single skater, winning age group medals. When he wanted to switch to ice dancing, his sister was the only available girl at the rink, so their parents teamed them up together.[3] He was 11 and she was 7 when they switched to ice dancing.[1]
Roman and Alexandra were originally coached by their parents. They were later coached by Irina Romanova and Igor Yaroshenko in Wilmington, Delaware.[3] They switched 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 Montclair, New Jersey. 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 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 Zaretskys would be sent to the Olympics if they placed at least 15th at the 2006 European Championships.[4] The Zaretskys accomplished this and were sent to Torino, where they placed 22nd.
Following the Olympic season, Galit Chait and Sergei Sakhnovski took some time off and eventually retired, leaving the Zaretskys 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 Zaretskys 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 Zaretskys 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.
The Zaretskys had an up and down season in 2008-9. They won their first international event, the 2009 Universiade, but placed lower at both the 2009 Europeans and 2009 World Championships than they had the previous year.
They rebounded in 2009–10; 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, they met their national criterion for the Vancouver Olympics.[8] There, in February 2010 they performed to music from Schindler's List in the free dance,[6] having partially picked the music in honor of 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]
[edit] Programs
| Season | Original Dance | Free Dance |
|---|---|---|
| 2001–02 | Granada/Torero Quiero | The Ukraine Dean Marshall |
| 2002–03 | Skaters Waltz by J. Strauss Galop: St. Petersburger Sleigh Ride |
Moulin Rouge (soundtrack) by Jose Feliciano |
| 2003–04 | Bad to the bone by George Thorogood Americano by Brian Setzer Orchestra |
The Matrix and Matrix Reloaded |
| 2004–05 | Foxtrot and Quickstep |
Phantom of the Opera by Andrew Lloyd Webber |
| 2005–06 | Samba, Rhumba, Mambo by Mambo Kings |
Caravan |
| 2006–07 | Assassin's Tango by John Powell |
Carmina Burana by Carl Orff |
| 2007–08 | Shick, Shack, Shock by Mustafa Sax |
Let my People Go by Louis Armstrong Sing, Sing, Sing by Louis Prima |
| 2008–09 | Summertime by Louis Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald |
Jesus Christ Superstar by Andrew Lloyd Webber |
| 2009–10 | Hava Nagila | Schindler's List by John Williams |
[edit] Competitive highlights
(with Zaretsky)
[edit] Post-2004
| Event | 2004–2005 | 2005–2006 | 2006–2007 | 2007–2008 | 2008–2009 | 2009–2010 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Winter Olympic Games | 22nd | 10th | ||||
| World Championships | 20th | 14th | 9th | 13th | 6th | |
| European Championships | 15th | 11th | 8th | 11th | 7th | |
| World Junior Championships | 4th | |||||
| Israeli Championships | 2nd | 1st | 1st | 1st | ||
| Cup of China | 9th | 4th | 4th | 7th | 5th | |
| Skate America | 8th | 7th | 3rd | |||
| Cup of Russia | 5th | |||||
| NHK Trophy | 9th | |||||
| Nebelhorn Trophy | 3rd | 2nd | 2nd | |||
| Golden Spin of Zagreb | 1st | |||||
| Winter Universiade | 1st | |||||
| Skate Israel | 4th | |||||
| Junior Grand Prix Final | 8th | |||||
| Junior Grand Prix, Romania | 2nd | |||||
| Junior Grand Prix, Germany | 3rd |
[edit] Pre-2004
| Event | 1999–2000 | 2000–2001 | 2001–2002 | 2002–2003 | 2003–2004 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| World Junior Championships | 19th | 8th | 9th | ||
| Israeli Championships | 1st N. | 1st J. | 1st J. | 1st J. | 1st J. |
| Skate Israel | 4th | ||||
| Junior Grand Prix Final | 6th | ||||
| Junior Grand Prix, Poland | 1st | ||||
| Junior Grand Prix, Mexico | 2nd | ||||
| Junior Grand Prix, Germany | 3rd | ||||
| Junior Grand Prix, Belgrade | 3rd | ||||
| Junior Grand Prix, Italy | 8th | ||||
| Junior Grand Prix, Netherlands | 11th | ||||
| European Youth Olympic Days | 3rd | ||||
| European Criterium Brno | 1st | ||||
| International Polish Competition | 1st | ||||
| N. = Novice level; J. = Junior level | |||||
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ a b c Golinsky, Reut (2010). "Alexandra and Roman Zaretsky: "We never left Israel"". Absolute Skating. http://www.absoluteskating.com/interviews/2010zaretsky.html. Retrieved December 1, 2010.
- ^ Ben-Ali, Russell (October 30, 2008). "Skaters, coach sue Hackensack rink". New Jersey Star-Ledger. http://www.nj.com/news/ledger/jersey/index.ssf?/base/news-11/1225340856152550.xml&coll=1.
- ^ a b Mittan, Barry (October 23, 2002). "Alexandra and Roman Zaretsky: Zaretskys Add to Israel's Dance Future". GoldenSkate.com. http://www.goldenskate.com/articles/2002/102302.shtml. Retrieved December 1, 2010.
- ^ a b "Young Israelis to compete at Skate America". The Jewish Ledger. October 25, 2006. http://www.jewishledger.com/articles/2006/10/25/news/news11.txt.
- ^ McGrath, Charles (January 19, 2010). "Israel’s Winter Athletes Come to U.S. Seeking Ice and Medals". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/19/sports/olympics/19skate.html.
- ^ a b D'Alessandro, Dave (February 23, 2010). "Zaretsky, Reed siblings make Jersey proud in Olympic ice dancing". The Star-Ledger. http://www.nj.com/olympics/index.ssf/2010/02/zaretsky_reed_siblings_make_je.html. Retrieved June 8, 2011.
- ^ "MAN OF THE YEAR". The Jerusalem Post. http://info.jpost.com/C003/Supplements/MOTY/art.10.html. Retrieved January 5, 2011.
- ^ "2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver / Israel's team: Two skaters, a skier". Haaretz. http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1144862.html. Retrieved January 31, 2010.
- ^ Krieger, Hilary Leila (February 19, 2010). "Zaretskys’ Olympic dance a tribute to their Holocaust losses". The Jerusalem Post. http://www.jpost.com/Sports/Article.aspx?id=169103. Retrieved June 8, 2011.
- ^ "Zaretsky siblings have retired" (in Hebrew). Ynet.com. http://www.ynet.co.il/articles/0,7340,L-3908058,00.html. Retrieved June 22, 2010.
- ^ Barden, Brett (June 20, 2010). "Zaretskys announce retirement". SkateToday. http://www.skatetoday.com/2010/06/20/zaretskys-announce-retirement/. Retrieved June 8, 2011.
[edit] External links
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