Alexandra Zaretski
Encyclopedia
Alexandra "Sasha" Zaretsky (born December 23, 1987) is an Israeli ice dancer. She competed with her brother Roman Zaretsky. Together, they are three-time Israeli National Champions and two-time Olympic competitors.

Personal life

Alexandra Zaretsky was born in Minsk
Minsk
- Ecological situation :The ecological situation is monitored by Republican Center of Radioactive and Environmental Control .During 2003–2008 the overall weight of contaminants increased from 186,000 to 247,400 tons. The change of gas as industrial fuel to mazut for financial reasons has worsened...

, Belarus SSR, Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....

. Originally from Minsk, the Zaretsky family was Jewish and made aliyah
Aliyah from the Commonwealth of Independent States in the 1990s
Russian Jewish immigration to Israel began en masse in the 1990s when the liberal government of Mikhail Gorbachev opened the borders of the USSR and allowed Jews to leave the country for Israel.-History:...

 soon after this was made possible. Alexandra, who was three years old at the time, was raised in Metula
Metula
Metula is a town in the Northern District of Israel. Metula is located between the sites of the Biblical cities of Dan, Abel Bet Maacah, and Ijon, bordering Lebanon.-Early history:...

, Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...

 where her parents work as coaches.

Alexandra Zaretsky speaks fluent Hebrew, Russian, and English.

In October 2008 the Zaretskys and their coach Galit Chait
Galit Chait
Galit Chait is a former Israeli ice dancer with partner Sergei Sakhnovski. They competed internationally for Israel from 1995 to 2006.- Personal life :Chait was born in Israel and moved to New Jersey as a child with her parents...

 filed a lawsuit against the Ice House training rink in Hackensack, New Jersey
Hackensack, New Jersey
Hackensack is a city in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States and the county seat of Bergen County. Although informally called Hackensack, it was officially named New Barbadoes Township until 1921. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city population was 43,010....

, 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.

Career

Alexandra Zaretsky began skating at the age of 6, after starting out in rhythmic gymnastics
Rhythmic gymnastics
Rhythmic gymnastics is a sport in which individuals or teams of competitors manipulate one or two pieces of apparatus: rope, clubs, hoop, ball, ribbon and Free . An individual athlete only manipulates 1 apparatus at a time...

. She originally skated as a single skater, winning age group medals. When older brother Roman wanted to switch to ice dancing, his sister was the only girl at the rink he could partner, so their parents teamed them up. She was seven and he was 11 when they switched to ice dancing.

Alexandra and Roman were originally coached by their parents. They were later coached by Irina Romanova
Irina Romanova (figure skater)
Irina Romanova is a Ukrainian ice dancer who competed for the Soviet Union before its fall and Ukraine after it. She competed with Igor Yaroshenko. They are the 1996 European bronze medalists. They placed seventh at the 1994 Winter Olympics and ninth at the 1998 Winter Olympics...

 and Igor Yaroshenko
Igor Yaroshenko
Igor Yaroshenko is a Ukrainian ice dancer who competed for the Soviet Union before its fall and Ukraine after it. He competed with Irina Romanova. They are the 1996 European bronze medalists. They placed seventh at the 1994 Winter Olympics and ninth at the 1998 Winter Olympics...

 in Wilmington, Delaware
Wilmington, Delaware
Wilmington is the largest city in the state of Delaware, United States, and is located at the confluence of the Christina River and Brandywine Creek, near where the Christina flows into the Delaware River. It is the county seat of New Castle County and one of the major cities in the Delaware Valley...

, before switching to Evgeni Platov in January 2005. 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 the U.S. with Platov. They eventually switched coaches to Galit Chait
Galit Chait
Galit Chait is a former Israeli ice dancer with partner Sergei Sakhnovski. They competed internationally for Israel from 1995 to 2006.- Personal life :Chait was born in Israel and moved to New Jersey as a child with her parents...

 and trained at the Ice House in Hackensack, New Jersey
Hackensack, New Jersey
Hackensack is a city in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States and the county seat of Bergen County. Although informally called Hackensack, it was officially named New Barbadoes Township until 1921. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city population was 43,010....

.

The Zaretskys are the first Israelis to medal at the Junior Winter Olympics as well as the first Israeli figure skaters to medal internationally on the junior level. In the 2005/2006 season, the Zaretskys debuted on the senior level, and were required to finish at least 15th at the 2006 European Championships in order to be sent to the Olympics as Israel's second team. They accomplished this and were sent to Torino, where they placed 22nd.

After the 2006 season, Galit Chait
Galit Chait
Galit Chait is a former Israeli ice dancer with partner Sergei Sakhnovski. They competed internationally for Israel from 1995 to 2006.- Personal life :Chait was born in Israel and moved to New Jersey as a child with her parents...

 and Sergei Sakhnovski
Sergei Sakhnovski
Sergei Sakhnovski is an Israeli ice dancer with partner Galit Chait. They have been competing internationally for Israel since 1996. In 2002 they were the first Israeli ice dance team to win a medal at World Championships...

 retired, and the Zaretskys became the top Israeli ice dancing team. They won the bronze medal at the 2006 Nebelhorn Trophy
Nebelhorn Trophy
The Nebelhorn Trophy is an international senior-level figure skating competition organized by the Deutsche Eislauf-Union and held annually in Oberstdorf, Germany. The competition is named after the Nebelhorn, a nearby mountain....

, a senior "B" international, and finished just off the podium at the Cup of China
Cup of China
The Cup of China is an international, senior-level figure skating competition held as part of the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating series. The location changes yearly. Figure skaters compete in the disciplines of ladies' singles, men's singles, pair skating, and ice dancing.The Cup of China is...

. They finished 11th at the 2007 Europeans and 14th at the 2007 World Championships
2007 World Figure Skating Championships
The World Figure Skating Championships is an annual figure skating competition sanctioned by the International Skating Union in which elite figure skaters compete for the title of World Champion. This event is considered the most prestigious of the ISU Championships. Skaters compete in the...

.

The Zaretskys competed at the 2007 Skate America
2007 Skate America
Skate America is an international, senior-level invitation-only figure skating competition organized by the United States Figure Skating Association. It is the first ISU Grand Prix event to be held...

 and 2007 Cup of China
2007 Cup of China
The Cup of China is a senior-level elite international invitational figure skating competition. It is the third event in the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating series. Skaters compete in the disciplines of ladies' singles, men's singles, pair skating, and ice dancing...

 Grand Prix competitions, repeating their 4th place finish in China. They finished 8th at the 2008 Europeans
2008 European Figure Skating Championships
The 2008 European Figure Skating Championships were European Figure Skating Championships of the 2007–2008 season. Skaters competed in the categories of men's singles, ladies singles, pairs, and ice dancing....

 and 9th at the 2008 World Championships
2008 World Figure Skating Championships
The 2008 World Figure Skating Championships was the World Figure Skating Championships of the 2007–2008 figure skating season. The World Championships are an annual figure skating competition in which elite figure skaters compete for the title of World Champion. The event was open to figure skaters...

, setting a new personal best score. They then had an up and down season in 2008-9, winning their first international event, the 2009 Universiade, but placing lower at both the 2009 Europeans
2009 European Figure Skating Championships
The 2009 European Figure Skating Championships were the European Championships of the 2008–2009 season. Skaters competed in the categories of men's singles, ladies singles, pairs, and ice dancing. The competition was open to skaters from a European Member nation of the International Skating Union...

 and 2009 World Championships
2009 World Figure Skating Championships
The 2009 World Figure Skating Championships were the World Figure Skating Championships for the 2008–2009 season. Commonly called "Worlds", they are an annual figure skating competition in which elite figure skaters compete for the title of World Champion...

 than they had the previous year.

The Zaretskys rebounded in 2009–10. After a 5th-place finish at the 2009 Cup of China
2009 Cup of China
The 2009 Cup of China was the Cup of China Grand Prix competition of the 2009–2010 figure skating season. It was the third event of six in the 2009–2010 ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating, a senior-level international invitational competition series. Skaters earned points towards qualifying for the...

, 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
Zagreb
Zagreb is the capital and the largest city of the Republic of Croatia. It is in the northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the Medvednica mountain. Zagreb lies at an elevation of approximately above sea level. According to the last official census, Zagreb's city...

, and skated to a 7th place finish at the 2010 Europeans
2010 European Figure Skating Championships
The 2010 European Figure Skating Championships were the European Championships of the 2009–2010 season. They are an annual figure skating competition in which elite figure skaters compete for the title of European Champion...

, 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. There, in February 2010 they performed to music from Schindler's List
Schindler's List
Schindler's List is a 1993 American film about Oskar Schindler, a German businessman who saved the lives of more than a thousand mostly Polish-Jewish refugees during the Holocaust by employing them in his factories. The film was directed by Steven Spielberg, and based on the novel Schindler's Ark...

in the free dance
Free dance (figure skating)
The free dance is a part of an ice dancing competition. It is the second part of the competition to be contested, after the short dance.-Structure and content:...

, having partially picked the music in honor of 27 family members who died in Minsk
Minsk
- Ecological situation :The ecological situation is monitored by Republican Center of Radioactive and Environmental Control .During 2003–2008 the overall weight of contaminants increased from 186,000 to 247,400 tons. The change of gas as industrial fuel to mazut for financial reasons has worsened...

 during the Holocaust. They finished tenth, setting new personal best scores in the free dance and overall. They went on to finish 6th at 2010 Worlds
2010 World Figure Skating Championships
The 2010 World Figure Skating Championships were the World Figure Skating Championships for the 2009–2010 season. Commonly called "Worlds", they are an annual figure skating competition in which elite figure skaters compete for the title of World Champion...

, 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.

Programs

Season Original dance Free dance
2001–02 Granada/Torero Quiero The Ukraine
Dean Marshall
Dean Marshall
Dean Stewart Marshall is a Canadian actor, known for his role as a Sgt. Bates on Stargate Atlantis.Marshall began performing from a young age in a steel band. His family was originally from Trinidad and Tobago. He joined the Canadian Forces as a teenager for a short time...

2002–03 Skaters Waltz
by J. Strauss
Galop: St. Petersburger Sleigh Ride
Moulin Rouge
Moulin Rouge
Moulin Rouge is a cabaret built in 1889 by Joseph Oller, who also owned the Paris Olympia. Close to Montmartre in the Paris district of Pigalle on Boulevard de Clichy in the 18th arrondissement, it is marked by the red windmill on its roof. The closest métro station is Blanche.The Moulin Rouge is...

 (soundtrack)
by Jose Feliciano
José Feliciano
José Feliciano is a Puerto Rican singer, virtuoso guitarist and composer known for many international hits including the 1970 holiday single "Feliz Navidad".-Childhood:...

2003–04 Bad to the bone
Bad to the Bone
"Bad to the Bone" is a song by George Thorogood and the Destroyers released in 1982 on the album of the same name. While it was not a major hit on initial release, its video made recurrent appearances on the nascent MTV, which was created a year before...


by George Thorogood
George Thorogood
George Thorogood is an American blues rock vocalist/guitarist from Wilmington, Delaware, United States, known for his hit song "Bad to the Bone" as well as for covers of blues standards such as Hank Williams' "Move It On Over" and John Lee Hooker's "House Rent Boogie/One Bourbon, One Scotch, One...


Americano
by Brian Setzer Orchestra
The Matrix
The Matrix
The Matrix is a 1999 science fiction-action film written and directed by Larry and Andy Wachowski, starring Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Carrie-Anne Moss, Joe Pantoliano, and Hugo Weaving...

 and Matrix Reloaded
2004–05 Foxtrot and
Quickstep
Phantom of the Opera
The Phantom of the Opera (song)
"The Phantom of the Opera" is a song from the stage musical of the same name, composed by Andrew Lloyd Webber, sung by Sarah Brightman and Michael Crawford, lyrics written by Charles Hart and Richard Stilgoe, and additional lyrics by Mike Batt...


by Andrew Lloyd Webber
Andrew Lloyd Webber
Andrew Lloyd Webber, Baron Lloyd-Webber is an English composer of musical theatre.Lloyd Webber has achieved great popular success in musical theatre. Several of his musicals have run for more than a decade both in the West End and on Broadway. He has composed 13 musicals, a song cycle, a set of...

2005–06 Samba, Rhumba, Mambo
by Mambo Kings
Caravan
2006–07 Assassin's Tango
by John Powell
John Powell
John Powell is a British composer, best known for his scores to motion pictures. He has been based in the United States since 1997 and has composed the scores to over fifty feature films. He rose to fame in the late 1990s and 2000s, scoring numerous animated films, and collaborating with...

Carmina Burana
Carmina Burana (Orff)
Carmina Burana is a scenic cantata composed by Carl Orff in 1935 and 1936. It is based on 24 of the poems found in the medieval collection Carmina Burana...


by Carl Orff
Carl Orff
Carl Orff was a 20th-century German composer, best known for his cantata Carmina Burana . In addition to his career as a composer, Orff developed an influential method of music education for children.-Early life:...

2007–08 Shick, Shack, Shock
by Mustafa Sax
Let my People Go
by Louis Armstrong
Louis Armstrong
Louis Armstrong , nicknamed Satchmo or Pops, was an American jazz trumpeter and singer from New Orleans, Louisiana....


Sing, Sing, Sing
Sing, Sing, Sing
"Sing, Sing, Sing " is a 1936 song, written by Louis Prima and first recorded by him with the New Orleans Gang and released in March 1936 as a 78 as Brunswick 7628 . It is strongly identified with the big band and swing eras. It was covered by Fletcher Henderson and most famously Benny Goodman...


by Louis Prima
Louis Prima
Louis Prima was a Sicilian American singer, actor, songwriter, and trumpeter. Prima rode the musical trends of his time, starting with his seven-piece New Orleans style jazz band in the 1920s, then successively leading a swing combo in the 1930s, a big band in the 1940s, a Vegas lounge act in the...

 
2008–09 Summertime
by Louis Armstrong
Louis Armstrong
Louis Armstrong , nicknamed Satchmo or Pops, was an American jazz trumpeter and singer from New Orleans, Louisiana....

 and Ella Fitzgerald
Ella Fitzgerald
Ella Jane Fitzgerald , also known as the "First Lady of Song" and "Lady Ella," was an American jazz and song vocalist...

Jesus Christ Superstar
by Andrew Lloyd Webber
Andrew Lloyd Webber
Andrew Lloyd Webber, Baron Lloyd-Webber is an English composer of musical theatre.Lloyd Webber has achieved great popular success in musical theatre. Several of his musicals have run for more than a decade both in the West End and on Broadway. He has composed 13 musicals, a song cycle, a set of...

2009–10 Hava Nagila
Hava Nagila
"Hava Nagila" is a Hebrew folk song that has become a staple of band performers at Jewish weddings and Bar/Bat Mitzvahs.-History:...

Schindler's List
Schindler's List
Schindler's List is a 1993 American film about Oskar Schindler, a German businessman who saved the lives of more than a thousand mostly Polish-Jewish refugees during the Holocaust by employing them in his factories. The film was directed by Steven Spielberg, and based on the novel Schindler's Ark...


by John Williams
John Williams
John Towner Williams is an American composer, conductor, and pianist. In a career spanning almost six decades, he has composed some of the most recognizable film scores in the history of motion pictures, including the Star Wars saga, Jaws, Superman, the Indiana Jones films, E.T...


Competitive highlights

(with Zaretsky)

Post-2004

Event 2004–2005 2005–2006 2006–2007 2007–2008 2008–2009 2009–2010
Winter Olympic Games
Winter Olympic Games
The Winter Olympic Games is a sporting event, which occurs every four years. The first celebration of the Winter Olympics was held in Chamonix, France, in 1924. The original sports were alpine and cross-country skiing, figure skating, ice hockey, Nordic combined, ski jumping and speed skating...

 
22nd 10th
World Championships
World Figure Skating Championships
The World Figure Skating Championships is an annual figure skating competition sanctioned by the International Skating Union in which elite figure skaters compete for the title of World Champion...

 
20th 14th 9th 13th 6th
European Championships
European Figure Skating Championships
The European Figure Skating Championships is an annual figure skating competition in which figure skaters compete for the title of European Champion...

 
15th 11th 8th 11th 7th
World Junior Championships
World Junior Figure Skating Championships
The World Junior Figure Skating Championships is an annual figure skating competition sanctioned by the International Skating Union in which younger figure skaters compete for the title of World Junior Champion...

 
4th
Israeli Championships
Israeli Figure Skating Championships
The Israeli Figure Skating Championships is a figure skating competition held annually to crown the national champions of Israel. Winners are given the title National Champion. Over the years, the date of the competition has been moved for regional political reasons or for the lack of ice....

 
2nd 1st 1st 1st
Cup of China
Cup of China
The Cup of China is an international, senior-level figure skating competition held as part of the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating series. The location changes yearly. Figure skaters compete in the disciplines of ladies' singles, men's singles, pair skating, and ice dancing.The Cup of China is...

 
9th 4th 4th 7th 5th
Skate America
Skate America
Skate America is an international, senior-level figure skating competition held as part of the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating series. It is organized by the United States Figure Skating Association. The location changes yearly...

 
8th 7th 3rd
Cup of Russia
Cup of Russia
The Cup of Russia is an international, senior-level figure skating competition held as part of the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating series. Figure skaters compete in the disciplines of ladies' singles, men's singles, pair skating, and ice dancing. It was held as the Rostelecom Cup in 2009 after...

 
5th
NHK Trophy
NHK Trophy
The NHK Trophy is an international, senior-level figure skating competition held as part of the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating series. Figure skaters compete in the disciplines of ladies' singles, men's singles, pair skating, and ice dancing....

 
9th
Nebelhorn Trophy
Nebelhorn Trophy
The Nebelhorn Trophy is an international senior-level figure skating competition organized by the Deutsche Eislauf-Union and held annually in Oberstdorf, Germany. The competition is named after the Nebelhorn, a nearby mountain....

 
3rd 2nd 2nd
Golden Spin of Zagreb
Golden Spin of Zagreb
The Golden Spin of Zagreb is an annual senior-level figure skating competition, held yearly in Zagreb, Croatia. Skaters compete in four disciplines: men's singles, ladies singles, pair skating, and ice dancing, although, in some years, not every discipline was included in the program.The 2001...

 
1st
Winter Universiade
Figure skating at the Winter Universiade
Figure skating is a part of the Winter Universiade. It was first held as part of the Universiade in 1960.-Men's singles:- Ladies singles :- Pair skating :- Ice dancing :-References:* -External links:*...

 
1st
Skate Israel
Skate Israel
Skate Israel is a senior-level international figure skating competition, held in Metulla, Israel. Skaters compete in four disciplines: ladies and men's singles, pairs and ice dancing...

 
4th
Junior Grand Prix Final
2004-2005 ISU Junior Grand Prix
The 2004–2005 ISU Junior Grand Prix was the eighth season of the ISU Junior Grand Prix, a series of international junior level competitions organized by the International Skating Union. It was the junior-level complement to the Grand Prix of Figure Skating, which was for senior-level skaters...

 
8th
Junior Grand Prix, Romania
2004-2005 ISU Junior Grand Prix
The 2004–2005 ISU Junior Grand Prix was the eighth season of the ISU Junior Grand Prix, a series of international junior level competitions organized by the International Skating Union. It was the junior-level complement to the Grand Prix of Figure Skating, which was for senior-level skaters...

 
2nd
Junior Grand Prix, Germany
2004-2005 ISU Junior Grand Prix
The 2004–2005 ISU Junior Grand Prix was the eighth season of the ISU Junior Grand Prix, a series of international junior level competitions organized by the International Skating Union. It was the junior-level complement to the Grand Prix of Figure Skating, which was for senior-level skaters...

 
3rd

Pre-2004

Event 1999–2000 2000–2001 2001–2002 2002–2003 2003–2004
World Junior Championships
World Junior Figure Skating Championships
The World Junior Figure Skating Championships is an annual figure skating competition sanctioned by the International Skating Union in which younger figure skaters compete for the title of World Junior Champion...

 
19th 8th 9th
Israeli Championships
Israeli Figure Skating Championships
The Israeli Figure Skating Championships is a figure skating competition held annually to crown the national champions of Israel. Winners are given the title National Champion. Over the years, the date of the competition has been moved for regional political reasons or for the lack of ice....

1st N. 1st J. 1st J. 1st J. 1st J.
Skate Israel
Skate Israel
Skate Israel is a senior-level international figure skating competition, held in Metulla, Israel. Skaters compete in four disciplines: ladies and men's singles, pairs and ice dancing...

 
4th
Junior Grand Prix Final
2003-2004 ISU Junior Grand Prix
The 2003–2004 ISU Junior Grand Prix was the seventh season of the ISU Junior Grand Prix, a series of international junior level competitions organized by the International Skating Union. It was the junior-level complement to the Grand Prix of Figure Skating, which was for senior-level skaters...

 
6th
Junior Grand Prix, Poland
2003-2004 ISU Junior Grand Prix
The 2003–2004 ISU Junior Grand Prix was the seventh season of the ISU Junior Grand Prix, a series of international junior level competitions organized by the International Skating Union. It was the junior-level complement to the Grand Prix of Figure Skating, which was for senior-level skaters...

 
1st
Junior Grand Prix, Mexico
2003-2004 ISU Junior Grand Prix
The 2003–2004 ISU Junior Grand Prix was the seventh season of the ISU Junior Grand Prix, a series of international junior level competitions organized by the International Skating Union. It was the junior-level complement to the Grand Prix of Figure Skating, which was for senior-level skaters...

 
2nd
Junior Grand Prix, Germany
2002-2003 ISU Junior Grand Prix
The 2002–2003 ISU Junior Grand Prix was the sixth season of the ISU Junior Grand Prix, a series of international junior level competitions organized by the International Skating Union. It was the junior-level complement to the Grand Prix of Figure Skating, which was for senior-level skaters....

 
3rd
Junior Grand Prix, Belgrade
2002-2003 ISU Junior Grand Prix
The 2002–2003 ISU Junior Grand Prix was the sixth season of the ISU Junior Grand Prix, a series of international junior level competitions organized by the International Skating Union. It was the junior-level complement to the Grand Prix of Figure Skating, which was for senior-level skaters....

 
3rd
Junior Grand Prix, Italy
2001-2002 ISU Junior Grand Prix
The 2001–2002 ISU Junior Grand Prix was the fifth season of the ISU Junior Grand Prix, a series of international junior level competitions organized by the International Skating Union. It was the junior-level complement to the Grand Prix of Figure Skating, which was for senior-level skaters....

 
8th
Junior Grand Prix, Netherlands
2001-2002 ISU Junior Grand Prix
The 2001–2002 ISU Junior Grand Prix was the fifth season of the ISU Junior Grand Prix, a series of international junior level competitions organized by the International Skating Union. It was the junior-level complement to the Grand Prix of Figure Skating, which was for senior-level skaters....

 
11th
European Youth Olympic Days  3rd
European Criterium Brno
European Criterium
European Criterium is Club's Cup of Europe - series of international figure skating competitions, held for European skaters since season 1997/1998.The competitions are organised in the following age categories :*Chicks ,...

 
1st
International Polish Competition 1st
N. = Novice level; J. = Junior level

External links

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