Religion meets the rink: Orthodox skater to represent Israel at Beijing Olympics

(JNS) - In a true "Cinderella story," 19-year-old Hailey Kops, a religiously observant athlete from West Orange, N.J., is preparing to take on the world's finest ice skaters while proudly representing Israel at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing.

Kops and her partner 33-year-old Evgeni Krasnopolski recently qualified for the pairs ice skating competition at the Olympics, which will be held next February. They defied all odds when they finished in the top three at an Olympics qualifier event in Germany, punching their tickets to China, as they had only been training together as skating partner...