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Susan Eisenstein: An Interview With Jared Firestone “The Jewish Jet”

His name is Jared Firestone. He is known as “The Jewish Jet.” And he is now and forever an Olympian.

 

Jared competed in skeleton at the Milan-Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics and was the flag bearer for Israel at the opening ceremonies. And Jared has now achieved two of his life-long dreams, that of practicing law (he is a licensed attorney in New York and Florida, running his own firm) and representing Israel at the Olympic Games.

 

Jared is a World Cup athlete for Israel’s Bobsled & Skeleton Team in the sport of Skeleton. He made Aliyah in 2019 and is now living in Miami, Florida. He is a  four-time National Champion, a seven-time medalist, holding a silver, bronze and Israel’s first-ever gold medal in an Olympic-discipline sliding sport competition, at the North America Cup in Lake Placid (2022-2023). In the 2024/2025 season, he qualified Israel’s first sled in a World Championships since 2019 and earned Israel’s first-ever Finals appearance in a major sliding competition.

 

And Firestone is also co-founder of the (501)(c)(3) nonprofit, Advancing Jewish Athletes, with co-founder Adam (A.J.) Edelman. Edelman made Aliyah in 2018 and is the first ever multisport Olympian in Israel’s history. Edelman represented Israel in skeleton in the 2018 Olympics in PyeongChang, South Korea and currently, in the 2026 Milan-Cortna Olympics, was Israel’s Bobsled Captain who piloted the Israeli Bobsled team to its first ever Olympic games.

 

Advancing Jewish Athletes, Inc. is a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit that distributes 100% of earmarked funds directly to its athletes, allowing them to serve as global ambassadors for the Jewish people and the State of Israel through sport.

 

And in addition to all of his hard-earned accomplishments, Jared Firestone, is also a mensch, which I am sure is why, in part anyway, he granted me this interview and answered my questions just about a week after returning from Milan.

 

Susan: Question 1: 

Your Journey to the Milan-Cortina Olympics was 10 years in the making. Why did you start the journey and how do you personally/emotionally sustain it? 

Jared: So the journey actually goes back 20 years. When I first learned about what happened in 1972 in Munich, I was about 15 years old, and it became a goal of mine to be able not just to honor them by continuing their legacy of being Olympians for Israel, but also to prove the perpetrators, the terrorists, wrong, with their goal being to intimidate Israelis from participating on the global stage and delegitimizing us in that way.

And for me, it was a great opportunity, and I think it’s a great opportunity for everybody who represents Israel since then to show them that they were unsuccessful.

So that was the beginning of the journey, and there were many, many ups and downs, but I knew that it was important to be successful in my journey or at the very least inspire the next generation to be successful in that.

And that’s what kept me going.

When my bank account was down to zero, I was bedridden with a mini stroke or rhabdomyolysis in 2020, or rehabbing a bicep tear. That’s what kept me going, as well as not wanting to let down all the people who supported me financially along the way.

Susan: Question 2: 

What were your favorite places to visit or to hang out inside the Olympic village? Outside the Olympic village? 

Jared: So the Olympic village was definitely a unique experience.

Honestly, my favorite part was hanging out in the cafeteria. It was the best place to meet people, sort of where everybody congregated.

There was also a place called the Mind Zone, which was a space for athletes to be able to wind down and find some peace and quiet, which was pretty hard to do in the village because there was always something to do, whether it was training, media, or just running into people. It was good to have somewhere quiet I could go and recenter for a bit.

Outside the Olympic village, honestly, it was hard because representing Team Israel, you have 24/7 security, including a personal bodyguard with you. So the only time I left the village was to get a haircut before opening ceremonies, and I had the security guy sitting in the chair next to me the entire time. So not so great for exploring while I was in competition.

But once I left the village, I was able to travel through Italy, and everything was amazing. Honestly, it’s hard to pick one place.

Susan: Question 3:

Can you talk about your and A.J. Edelman’s foundation: Advancing Jewish Athletes? 

Jared:  So, Advancing Jewish Athletics is a nonprofit that AJ Edelman and I formed in order to combat the biggest roadblock we had in making the Olympics, which was the lack of infrastructure around the funding of athletes, particularly in sports like boxing and skeleton.

We’ve seen the importance of having representatives in all aspects of sports, even in sports that aren’t as famous. Athletes like AJ and myself are coming in contact with thousands of people every year and having opportunities to interact directly.

And we thought that it would be such a shame if some athletes were prevented from having the same opportunity, if Israel was prevented from having the same opportunity, just due to money.

So that’s a problem we’re still working to solve. And I think for both of us, that’s our mission moving forward, following our own athletic careers.

Susan: Question 4:

What are your future personal plans? 

Jared: My future personal plans are to continue my mission. So the Olympics were only a means to the end, but it wasn’t a necessity.

And the end is continuing to inspire the next generation of Jewish athletes to be proud, to be out there, to be strong, and to be proudly representing Israel and the Jewish people around the world.

 

Contact information for speaking engagements: 

As a motivational speaker, Jared Firestone draws from his journey of overcoming adversity to fulfill his 20-year dream of competing on the world stage for Israel. He offers high-impact discussions and workshops focused on resilience, performing under pressure, and turning personal adversity into a competitive advantage. To book Jared for your next event, contact booking@jewishjet.com.