Galit Chait (, Galit Hayat; born on January 29, 1975) is an Israeli former competitive ice dancer. She and her partner Sergei Sakhnovski competed internationally for Israel from 1995 to 2006, becoming the 2002 World bronze medalists.
Personal life Chait was born in Israel. Her family moved to New Jersey when she was young, and she first skated at age 8.
Her father, Boris Chait, has been president of the Israeli Ice Skating Federation since 2002.
On August 23, 2008, Chait married former Italian military policeman Francesco Moracci in New Jersey and then on September 13, 2008, they had a second wedding in Florence, Italy. The two had met at the 2006 Olympic Games in Turin, Italy, where Moracci was a member of the security detail assigned to protect the Israeli team. They have two daughters, Raffaella, born in 2009, and Gabriella, born in 2011. They also have a son named Matteo.
Chait has been a resident of Paramus, New Jersey.
Career She first tried ice dancing in the 1990s when she traveled to Russia with her father, who was teaching there at a sports camp.
She competed with Max Sevostianov at the U.S. Nationals in 1992 and 1994. They were involved in a collision with Renée Roca at the 1994 U.S. Championships. In 1994, the pair placed 6th at the U.S. Nationals and 28th at the World Championships (representing Israel).
Chait met Sergei Sakhnovski while they were both students at the University of Delaware. Partnered since 1995, they trained initially in Russia with Ludmila Buytskova and Elena Maslenikova before moving to Monsey, New York. They rose steadily in the international rankings. The highlight of their career was winning the bronze medal at the 2002 World championships. Sergei Sakhnovski suffered a foot injury that forced the pair to miss the entire 2006–2007 season, and they subsequently announced their retirement. Their coaches included Natalia Dubova, Tatiana Tarasova, Evgeni Platov, Natalia Linichuk and Gennadi Karponosov.
Chait was the flag bearer for Israel at the 2002 and 2006 Winter Olympics.
Chait is an ISU Technical Specialist.
Coaching career After her retirement as a competitive skater, Chait began coaching ice dancing. She was the head coach of the Israeli brother-and-sister team Alexandra Zaretsky and Roman Zaretsky, and of Tamar Katz as well. In October 2008, Chait and the Zaretskys filed a lawsuit against the Ice House training rink in Hackensack, New Jersey, claiming that officials at the rink discriminated against them on the basis of their Israeli nationality, denying them prime skating time and threatening to ban them from the rink. The Zaretskys, under her coaching, won the gold medal at the 24th Winter Universiade Games in Harbin China, the bronze medal at Skate America 2009 and they qualified for the Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver Canada.
Chait has also coached: Cathy Reed / Chris Reed Siobhan Heekin-Canedy / Alexander Shakalov Allison Reed / Otar Japaridze Ekaterina Bugrov / Vasili Rogov Siobhan Heekin-Canedy / Dmitri Dun Anna Bolshem / Ronald Zilberberg Adel Tankova/ Ronald Zilberberg
As of 2010, Chait was the head coach of the Israeli figure skating team.
Programs (with Sakhnovski)
Season Original dance Free dance Exhibition 2005–2006 Cha Cha Rhumba Samba Bolero 2004–2005 Quickstep: Sing, Sing, Sing Slow Foxtrot: Smile Quickstep: Sing, Sing, Sing Toccata and Fugue in D minor 2003–2004 Rock'n Roll: Keep Knocking Blues: Minnie the Moocher Rock'n Roll: Keep Knocking Pagliacci Federico Fellini films Gipsy Kings 2002–2003 March: Radetzky March op. 228 Waltz Polka from the Bartered Bride
Polka from the Bartered Bride Waltz Polka from the Bartered Bride Variations on a Theme of Paganini
Lord of the Rings Lord of the Dance Stranger in My House 2001–2002 Flamenco Paso Doble: Malaguena Tango: El Tango de Roxanne Hava Nagila Unforgettable 2000–2001 Quickstep: "Sing, Sing, Sing" Foxtrot: "Bei mir bist du schön" Variations on a Theme of Paganini 1999–2000 Samba 1492: Conquest of Paradise 1998–1999 Waltz Russian folk 1997–1998 Hey Boy Hey Girl Jewish music 1996–1997 Tango My Sweet and Tender Beast 1995–1996 Paso Doble The Godfather
Competitive highlights GP: Champions Series / Grand Prix
With Sakhnovski International Event 96–97 97–98 98–99 01–02 02–03 03–04 04–05 05–06 Olympics 14th 6th 8th Worlds 23rd 18th 14th 13th 5th 6th 3rd 6th 7th 6th 6th Europeans 14th 12th 10th 6th 5th 5th 6th 5th 4th 5th Final 4th 5th 5th 4th 4th Cup of China 2nd 2nd Cup of Russia 7th 3rd 2nd 3rd 2nd Lalique 5th 6th Nations/Bofrost 7th 5th 2nd NHK Trophy 7th 5th 3rd 3rd Skate America 4th 2nd 4th 2nd Skate Canada 2nd 2nd 4th 3rd Goodwill Games 2nd Nebelhorn Trophy 9th Skate Israel 6th 2nd 1st 1st 1st 1st 1st Vienna Cup 3rd Lysiane Lauret 1st National Israeli Champ. 1st 1st 1st 1st 1st 1st 1st 1st 1st
With Sevostianov International Event 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 World Championships 28th Karl Schäfer Memorial 7th Nebelhorn Trophy 10th National U.S. Championships 12th 6th
See also List of select Jewish figure skaters
References
External links
Official homepage – Chait / Sakhnovski (archived)