Dylan Moscovitch, who might be the only Jew competing for Canada at the Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, came in sixth in the pairs short program and qualified for the free program on Feb. 12.
Moscovitch already claimed one victory this week when he competed with Kirsten Moore-Towers and helped Canada bring home a silver medal in team figure skating. The Waterloo, Ont.-based team earned nine points out of the 65 total for Team Canada.
In the new team competition, athletes from all categories – ice dance, pairs figure skating, singles – perform and the team with the highest total score wins. Russia came in first with 75 points, while the United States earned bronze with 60.
The American team included two Jewish figure skaters, Jason Brown and Charlie White.
Israel’s only short speed skater Vladislav Bykanov just barely failed to make it into the 1,500-metre semifinals, finishing in fourth place in his race, 0.8 seconds out of third and a trip to the semis, with a final time of 2:21.163.
But Bykanov is still in the hunt in the 1,000-metre and 500-metre competitions, which start Feb. 13 and Feb. 18, respectively.
Viewers may have caught the 24-year-old Bykanov carrying the Israeli flag as the team entered Fisht Olympic Stadium during the opening ceremonies.
Israel pair figure skaters Andrea Davidovich and Evgeni Krasnopolski came in 15th in the pairs short program and will compete in the pairs free program against Moscovitch and Moore-Towers on Feb. 12.
Listen below to The CJN's Cara Stern's interview with Moscovitch from shortly before he left for Sochi.
