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Introducing Israeli Figure Skating Ice Dancers, Galit Chait-Moracci & Sergei Sakhnovsky

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Galit Chait-Moracci was a competitive ice dancer; she is currently a coach, technical specialist, wife and mom, according to an October 2019 article on the Ice Dance web site. 

Edited by: TJV News

She was born in Israel, but moved to New Jersey, USA at a young age. Her first ice-skating experience was a trip to the outdoor rink at Rockefeller Center in New York City, as was reported by the IceDance.com web site.  

“My parents told me that I went straight to the middle even though I didn’t know how to skate,” Chait-Moracci explained. “Right after that I started group [freestyle] lessons at the old Sky Rink in Manhattan, NYC. Many years later, we performed at Rockefeller Center on the Today Show.”

Russian coach Natalia Dubova introduced her to ice dancing several years later during a visit to Russia with her father, an international businessman.

“My father took me to Russia to try out with a partner and to try Ice Dancing,” Chait-Moracci said. “From the first second, I knew that’s what I wanted to do! I loved to dance and perform, and although it wasn’t an easy transition, my parents didn’t give up on me, and they helped me persevere to reach my dreams,” she told the IceDance.com web site.

Chait-Moracci sson began a partnership with Sergei Sakhnovsky who was representing Israel.

The Ice Dance web site reported that the couple trained with many great ice dance coaches, and each of them taught something important. Since they were all from the Russian schools, the basic technique was similar, but their methods and teaching styles were so different.

Sergei Sakhnovsky is an Israeli ice dancer. Along with Galit Chait, he is the 2002 World bronze medalist for Israel. With previous partner Ekaterina Svirina, he is the 1993 World Junior champion for Russia.

Wikipedia reported that Sakhnovsky began skating at age four and took up ice dancing when he was eight. Early in his career, he skated with Marina Anissina and Ekaterina Svirina. With Svirina, he won the World Junior Championships in 1993 and took the silver medal in 1994.

He teamed up with Galit Chait in 1995. They initially trained in Russia with Ludmila Buytskova and Elena Maslenikova and then moved to Monsey, New York. In 2002, they were the first Israeli ice dance team to win a medal (bronze) at World Championships. They competed in three Olympics, finishing 14th in 1998, 6th in 2002, and 8th in 2006. Their coaches included Natalia Dubova, Tatiana Tarasova, Evgeni Platov, Natalia Linichuk and Gennadi Karponosov.

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