Andrea Davidovich

Davidovich was born in Burlington, Vermont, in 1997 to American Jewish parents who had previously lived in Israel.[1] She held Israeli citizenship and competed internationally for Israel with Evgeni Krasnopolski.[4]

Davidovich and Krasnopolski began skating together in 2013 and trained at the Ice House in Hackensack, New Jersey, with coach Gennadi Krasnitski and choreographer Galit Chait.[1] Krasnopolski had previously represented Israel with Daniela Montalbano.[4]

The pair met the international qualification criterion for Sochi by placing tenth at a 2013 competition in Germany.[4] Shortly before the Games, they placed seventh at the European Championships in Budapest.[4]

Their preparation for Sochi included rehearsing lifts, throws, and twists twice daily, alongside cross-training and ballet twice a week.[5] After they selected music associated with “Romeo and Juliet” for their long program, Davidovich’s mother took them to an American Ballet Theatre performance of the work in Manhattan, where they found ideas for their routine.[5] Before the Olympics, Davidovich said, “We are delighted to be representing Israel,” adding, “Our aim at the Olympics is to skate as well as we can, and reach the final.”[1]

At Sochi, Davidovich and Krasnopolski advanced from the short program to the free skate.[3] Their short-program score of 53.38 was a personal best.[3] They performed their free skate to Nino Rota’s “Love Theme from Romeo and Juliet,” scoring 94.35 points for a combined total of 147.73 and finishing 15th overall.[3]

Davidovich and Krasnopolski were Israel’s first pairs team to compete at the Winter Olympics.[1][2] Her participation also set an age milestone: at 16 years and 324 days, Davidovich was Israel’s youngest female competitor at a Winter Olympics.[2]

After the Olympics, Davidovich sought release from her commitment to the Israeli Ice Skating Federation so that she could skate for the United States.[6] The federation opposed the request, arguing that releasing her could encourage similar departures by other skaters in whom it had invested.[6] The International Skating Union granted her request in fall 2016 after revising some of its rules.[6]

In January 2018, a New Jersey appeals court rejected the federation’s attempt to recover approximately $540,000 in attorneys’ fees from Davidovich.[6] The federation argued that her lawsuit was frivolous and that she should first have pursued a remedy through the international governing body.[6] The court found that, before the rule changes, an individual skater’s ability to seek redress directly from the International Skating Union had been uncertain, and that Davidovich had not deliberately bypassed clearly established administrative remedies.[6]