About two years ago, at the height of the Corona plague two years ago, when the world was in uncertainty and closure was only a matter of time, just then, Haley Cops boarded a plane from her home in West Orange, New Jersey to Jerusalem, to strengthen her Torah studies at Amit Studio. In Jerusalem, but she also did not imagine that it would all end, with a ticket to the Beijing 2020 Winter Olympics.
Cops (19), the home of Stephen and Lisa, grew up all her life in a traditional home, which kept Sabbaths and holidays, but also in a sports house, when her former professional skating mother took her as early as age 3 for her first experience on ice and the connection was immediate.
The local successes were not long in coming and at the age of 13, this did not go unnoticed by the heads of the Israeli Skating Association, after the young Haley received an invitation to join the training of the Israeli national team in her hometown, since Israel has no suitable infrastructure for high levels.
To the cell arrangement box, because of her great love for Israel where she always saw her home and the very fact that through representation she gained citizenship the profit was double, but life had other plans and after several injuries she suffered, in 2019 she had to hang the skaters, retire and eventually As mentioned, to come and study in Israel.
After a full year that Cops saw her family through the zoom, she returned home last June and received a phone call from the chairman of the figure skating association, Boris Hayat, who told her that skater Yevgeny Krasnopolsky, who represented Israel in the last two Olympics, is looking for a new partner.
Cops did not hesitate for a second and the next day showed up for training.
Yevgeny Krasnopolsky and Haley Cops.
Even traditionalists can, Photo: Oren Aharoni
While figure skating takes years to build confidence and reach the highest levels, the two did the unbelievable when in three months of working together they competed in the last chance competition for the Olympics held in Germany, against all couples from all over the world - finishing third and getting the last ticket to China.
"I still can not believe I'm in the Olympics and all this after three months together," Kops says in a special interview with Israel Today together with Krasnopolsky.
"The Olympics are different from any regular competition because there is a lot more excitement especially this is my first games."
Are you asking for tips from Yevgeny about the Olympics?
"He has the experience and whenever I have questions then I approach him. We have a really good relationship, he is a comfortable parent and can be trusted on the ice and he trusts me and we have a good job together that only gets better from training to training."
For you, Yevgeny for the third time still has the same excitement?
"Yeah obviously, it does not happen every year like the European Championships or the World Cup. There is peak excitement. A little harder sex probably than the first time, because I do not get younger when the job stays the same job and age just gets harder."
What tips did you give Haley from your Olympic experience?
"Just try to relax more, think in your head that it's like a normal competition. There are a lot of distractions from the outside, that it does not give you a sense of normal competition, but try to stay normal, concentrate on training without all the mess around and do the best we can."
Yevgeny Krasnopolsky Haley Kopsi.
Slip without problems,
It was a tough season with the whole corona
Yevgeny:
"Yes it was a difficult year, even in the time of the Corona it was exactly the time we had to connect, but there were not enough competitions before the criterion. Unlike the previous campaign, I had seven competitions. "
"We did not look at what was standing in the way. We had a goal of the criterion competition and a hard fact of three months at the end of which we had to be at the peak."
Haley:
"We went through the Korna in training because we were allowed to train but only we were on the ice so we felt a little less the period of being locked up at home."
Yevgeny has replaced quite a few partners in recent years, how to start all over again
"To tell you it's not tired, so it's tired fast, but half the time it was not up to me and half we skate and it did not progress. I knew that if I continued at the same level, I would not be able to pass a stage and get the ticket to the Olympics."
If who had the best connection?
Of all the mates I have had to date, it's weird to mess with Haley I have the best connection.
From the first moment we had a click.
As a skater, I already wanted to skate with her three years ago and for all sorts of reasons it didn't work out and even outsiders thought it would not work. "
"I knew she worked very hard and she's a little crazy in the positive sense, that it's good for us and good for our sport, because she goes to the end to everything. It's good that it happened to us a few months ago, than it did not come out at all "Six years. Everything flows together, we have no unnecessary arguments."
Yevgeny Krasnopolsky and Haley Cops.
Clean slides and promotion to the finals, Photo: Oren Aharoni
Have you seen the success in Tokyo and it gave motivation?
Yevgeny:
"I am the most bastard of what was and had a particularly good feeling from the taekwondo fighter Avishag Samberg that I followed and wanted Linoy Ashram to win and put an end to the hegemony of Russia that wins every Olympics they always come that is in their pocket."
Isn't that what happens in figure skating as well?
"Certainly, that's why I'm very connected to what Linoy had. We live on a score and not on time results. It finally happened in artistic gymnastics and maybe it will happen to us and then more Israelis than Russians will win. Obviously there are policies in the industry "Equally, unfortunately, this is still happening."
What would you change today so that more Israelis would join the industry?
"All the plots that have been opened in Israel from Eilat, Beer Sheva and Holon. There are many Israelis who skate at a good level and hope that at what heart in their life they will stop.
Linoy Ashram.
Received support from the pair of skaters, Photo: AP
Four years ago we saw almost twice as many figure skaters at the Olympics - why did the industry go backwards?
"There are always ups and downs. We were in a kind of rise and now there is a decline. Hopefully it will rise again in the next Olympics and not die. Because it can be developed, there are many children who take a good few years to develop. I see many children here in Holon "Like everything has hard days, they should not finish you and keep going."
"The goal to reach the final of the Olympics"
Since the 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway, Israel has maintained a tradition of sending representatives to each of the Olympics, and for those who have a significant part of it is of course Krasnopolsky, who will be for the third time at the Olympics.
Yevgeny, 33, immigrated to Israel at the age of three from the Ukraine and was absorbed with his family in Kiryat Shmona.
From there he would jump to Metula to train and in between also completed full military service.
In 2014 at the Sochi Olympics, together with Anya Davidovich, they became the first pair in Israel to reach the finals in the figure skating athletics competition, finishing in 15th place, but four years later with Paige Conners failed to replicate the achievement and was ranked 19th.
Yevgeny Krasnopolsky and Haley Cops.
The action is already beginning, Photo: Oren Aharoni
Delayed the Summer Olympics, were you afraid that they might postpone the Winter Games as well?
Yevgeny:
"Obviously there was a fear. I had a bigger fear because I was getting older, another year was harder for me. Haley is still young and has strength and since they said the Summer Olympics were postponed, there was a fear that there would be a situation to postpone the Winter Olympics."
"I'm sure there are a lot of athletes in the summer who did not like the fact that he was postponed for a year and also there were some that it hurt them and could not travel like Shahar Zubari and luck was not on his side and it sucks."
Avishag Samberg.
The fighter was also encouraged because of the ice, Photo: Oren Aharoni
For you, this is the last Olympics?
"Everything can change. Let's see this Olympics pass and everything's fine, but skating at the next Olympics at age 37 has almost no skaters in the world who have reached that age."
Hailey Am had conditions and an Olympic field in Israel, would you prefer to stay and train in Israel?
"I prefer to skate in Israel, when I represent Israel, so of course it was amazing to train here as well, but there are not the same facilities we have in the United States. But I am very connected to Israel, I studied for a year in the studio to get by".
Yevgeny
: "Most of the team prefers to train in Israel, we said that all the time. At the moment it is difficult, but I hope that in the future the conditions will improve and it will happen."
How do you handle all the competitions with the matter of religion?
"It was difficult at first but I learned to get along. I keep Shabbat, so sometimes I come to competitions on foot and the parents also help who contact the Chabad house and take care of my food."
What do you say to all those who respond that you train in the United States, compete all year abroad is not really representing Israel
Yevgeny:
"The thing is that they will always say that, there are a very large number of skaters who do not train in their country because there are no conditions and usually train in Russia all year round. It is not that they do not want, just do not. That there are no coaches, pitches, not enough hours on the ice.
"In order to be successful, you need all the conditions, otherwise you will simply not get anywhere and that is why nine countries that are in contact with us for the Olympics are training in Russia."
This is going to be an extraordinary Olympics with all the corona restrictions
Hailey:
"It will definitely be disappointing, and it's also my first games I wanted to experience the whole experience, but have to flow with what's there, and extend that we're still competing there. It may be a different experience, but it's still going to be an experience The fact that I'm in the Olympics. "
What do you say about all those who want to boycott the Beijing Olympics?
Haley
: "Athletes who have worked so hard to get to the Olympics should not give up on the dream, but also understand their protests and reasons. For me the Olympics symbolizes the brotherhood between nations, all gathered in one place from all over the world to compete and unite, opal".
Yevgeny Krasnopolsky (33) and Hailey Cops (19).
Good luck, Photo: Oren Aharoni
Give one reason why you should watch the Winter Olympics
Haley:
"I worked really hard to get there, hoping to skate without problems. It's something I love and want to inspire young children. When I'm also traditional, when I want to prove that it's possible to compete at the highest levels and keep the tradition."
Yevgeny:
"I hope there will be a younger generation, that the sport will not die. That there will be more results than I have had in my career, that children will see and want to be skaters and if they have a dream of getting to the Olympics it is something possible."
If she could convey a message to Sports Minister Hili Trooper what would you say or ask of him?
"Undoubtedly more courts in the country, at an Olympic standard. Not only will children train, those who can bring big competitions to the country. Something big can be done here."
So what do you look like in Beijing?
Haley
: "To slide clean and advance to the finals, that's what we're going to try to do."
Yevgeny
: "To be among the 16 couples who advance to the final and from there everything is open. You have to do it, there is no other option."
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