A handful of diverse athletes — a pole-vaulter, sprinter, shot-putter, rugby player, and former Olympian in skeleton — will compete as Israel's first bobsled team during this year's Milan Cortina Winter Games, unlikely ambassadors of their diplomatically isolated nation.

Jewish and Israeli athletes enjoyed historic success at the most recent Olympic and Paralympic Games in Paris in 2024, with a combined 36 athletes taking home 31 total medals betw