Israeli ice dancers train in Simsbury
By Lois Elfman

DEC 10 ,2004 - SIMSBURY - One chilly night in Salt Lake City, Utah nearly three years ago a young woman entered the Olympic stadium leading her country's delegation. It was a long way from the Soviet Union, from which her parents had fled in the mid-1970s.
It was also a great distance from the place she was born, Kfar Saba, Israel, but she had never felt as close to home as she did at that moment.
"That was truly amazing," recalls Galit Chait, who carried Israel's flag in the Opening Ceremonies of the 2002 Olympic Winter Games. "It was unbelievable. I've never felt anything like that before. When you know you're carrying the flag and representing your country - a country that is in so much turmoil all the time - you are filled with indescribable pride."
This was the second Olympics for Chait and her ice dancing partner, Sergey Sakhnovsky. The Israeli duo had finished 14th in Nagano, Japan in 1998.
Now, Chait and Sakhnovsky are based primarily in Simsbury where they train with renowned coach Tatiana Tarasova and two-time Olympic Ice Dance Champion Evgeny Platov at the International Skating Center of Connecticut.
Ice dancing is a sport that is just like it sounds - dance on ice.
"Through dancing and through the music, we express our feelings," Sakhnovsky explains. "This year we really love our programs, especially the free dance to Bach (Toccata and Fugue in D minor) is really special."
"Sergey and I love performing," says Chait. "That's what we excel at - performing to the music and the character of the music. That's our big plus. But, of course, every year as you work with more people and more choreography you grow as people too. You begin to interpret the same music that maybe you listened to a few years ago in a totally different way. You're more mature and you understand it more. You can express yourself more through your music."
For their two Olympic appearances, Chait and Sakhnovsky, both 29, chose Jewish music. In 1998, it was fast-paced folk music. In 2002, when they placed sixth, it was a medley of folk and popular songs. Throughout their 10-year partnership they have pushed themselves as athletes and artists, performing to a wide range of styles - from classical to swing. Their free dance last season was based on clowns at a circus.
Although they both share Russian Jewish heritages, Chait and Sakhnovsky come from decidedly different backgrounds. 
When she was a baby, Chait's parents moved the family from Israel to New Jersey. She grew up an only child who was doted upon. She first took to the ice at the Rink at Rockefeller Plaza. From there, she started taking private lessons at SkyRink in New York. As her skating progressed, she traveled to Sport-o-Rama in Monsey, N.Y. for better coaching. By the time she was 17, she could see she would not progress any further as a singles skater. She spent the summer training in Moscow with renowned ice dance coach Natalia Dubova, who paired her with Maxim Sevostianov. The duo competed at the U.S. Championships in 1993 and 1994, and then the Israel Ice Skating Federation asked if they would like to represent Israel. 
Shortly after their Worlds debut, Sevostianov decided to retire. In December 1994, Chait teamed with Sakhnovsky, whose partnership with Ekaterina Svirina dissolved after they won the 1993 World Junior Championship.
"In Russia people hid their identities and changed their names, just so in their passports it wouldn't say that they were Jewish," Chait says. "For me, it was a little bit easier, because in America I never hid my heritage and who I am. Sergey never hid the fact that he was Jewish. That made me want him as a partner."
Chait and Sakhnovsky made their World Championships debut in 1996. As is typical in ice dancing, it took a while for the judges to notice them, but eventually they made their way up the ranks. In 2002, they won a bronze medal at the World Championships, the first medal for Israel. It was a time of joy for Israeli ice skating but also sadness, as the federation's founder and president, Yossi Goldberg, was terminally ill. Before he died, he asked Chait's father, Boris, to take over the presidency.
"Yossi was the one who started the federation and brought skating to Israel," says Chait. "Now my father is doing everything in his power to send all the skaters to competitions and keep them training. They are getting the same level of training that any big country would have for their skaters."
At the 2004 World Figure Skating Championships in Dortmund, Germany, Israel was represented in all disciplines: men, women, pairs and ice dancing. Some of the skaters train in Metulla, Israel, site of Canada Centre, Israel's only Olympic size skating rink. Others train in the U.S.
Chait and Sakhnovsky, who finished seventh at 2004 Worlds, make at least two trips a year to Israel to compete and give seminars. 
They competed at three Grand Prix events this autumn, finishing second at Skate America and Cup of China and third at Skate Canada.
They just learned they have qualified for the Grand Prix Final in Beijing, Dec. 16-19.
"Most ice dancers spend every day thinking about programs and how you're going to make them better and how to perform," says Chait. "There is so much work that goes into it on and off the ice."