Israel pulls its first Olympic four-man bobsled after a disputed lineup change

CORTINA D'AMPEZZO, Italy — Israel’s four-man bobsled didn’t make it to the last day of the Milan Cortina Olympics because the nation's officials said they decided to pull the sled out of the competition after taking issue with how the team wanted to change its lineup and allow an alternate to participate.

The Israeli Olympic Committee said it did not allow pilot AJ Edelman's team to compete in the final run of the competition, saying the way it tried to go about changing push athletes between the first two heats on Saturday and the last one on Sunday did “not meet the standards expected of Olympic athletes.”

Changing push athletes midway through a bobsled competition is only allowed under special circumstances, such as legitimate illness or injury.

Edelman acknowledged the team tried to get a replacement athlete in the sled for Sunday’s resumption of the competition. “But the circumstances under which we made the substitution did not meet the bar that allows a team to make a lineup change,” he posted on social media.

Edelman said the team withdrew. Israeli officials said the team was suspended.

“The Olympic Committee of Israel views any deviation from the Olympic values as unacceptable and cannot accept inappropriate behavior,” the country's Olympic delegation wrote in a statement sent to The Associated Press and other outlets.

Edelman’s sled was 24th out of 24 finishers in the two runs held on Saturday. It would have gotten a third heat on Sunday — but was unlikely to do well enough to get a fourth and final heat later on the final day of the Olympics. Only the top 20 sleds make the fourth heat.