MILAN (AP) — Switzerland’s public broadcaster has removed a Winter Olympics clip from its website after a reporter was criticized for his comments during an Israeli bobsled team competition.
The commentator cited and referred to bobsled pilot AJ Edelman’s past social media posts supporting the Gaza conflict. Stefan Reyna also cited International Olympic Committee qualification rules that require Russian athletes not to openly support the war in Ukraine.
advertise
Monday’s two-minute comments also referred to a report commissioned by the U.N. Human Rights Council that concluded last year that Israel had committed genocide. Israel has challenged the findings, calling them “distorted and erroneous.”
Swiss French-language public broadcaster RTS said in a statement on Tuesday that its reporters questioned the International Olympic Committee’s policy on the athlete’s public comments.
“However, such information, while true, would not be appropriate in sports commentary due to its length,” RTS said. “For this reason, we have removed Monday night’s clip from our website.”
shure running
Edelman, who finished 26th after two rounds in the Two-Man Bob event on Monday night, responded to the comments in a social media post. This was the first Olympic appearance for the Israeli team, named “Shul Runnings” in honor of the Jamaican bobsled team’s debut at the 1988 Calgary Winter Olympics.
advertise
“We have no coaches. No mega-projects. Just dreams, courage and an unyielding pride in what we stand for,” wrote the Boston-born athlete, who represented Israel in the steel frame competition at the 2018 PyeongChang Olympics.
“Work together to achieve an incredible goal and achieve it. Because that’s what Israelis do,” Edelman added. “I don’t think it’s possible to witness this and believe these comments.”
Olympic Games local broadcaster
RTS is the local public network in Lausanne, home of the International Olympic Committee.
IOC spokesman Mark Adams said on Tuesday “it is not an issue for us at this stage” about the incident and referred questions to broadcasters.
advertise
Reyna also pointed to the International Olympic Committee’s disqualification of Ukrainian skeleton athlete Vladyslav Heraskevych – because he insisted on wearing a helmet with pictures of athletes and coaches who died during the Russian invasion – and noted that there are examples of political problems at every Olympics.
U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee called the comment “absolutely disgusting” in a social media post.
Edelman will return to the slide in Cortina d’Ampezzo later Tuesday to resume two-man action. He will also lead the crew in the four-man competition starting Saturday.
___
AP Winter Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics
