Hailey Esther Kops (; born June 1, 2002) is an American-born

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

pair skater Pair skating is a figure skating discipline defined by the International Skating Union (ISU) as "the skating of two persons in unison who perform their movements in such harmony with each other as to give the impression of genuine Pair Skating a ...

. With former partner

Evgeni Krasnopolski Evgeni Krasnopolski (, ; born 4 October 1988) is a Ukrainian-born Israeli retired pair skater. Krasnopolski and Andrea Davidovich were the first pair representing Israel to qualify for Israel at the 2014 Olympics. They finished 15th in Sochi. Kr ...

, she competed for

Israel at the 2022 Winter Olympics Israel competed at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, China, from 4 to 20 February 2022. Figure skater Evgeni Krasnopolski and alpine ski racer Noa Szőllős were chosen as the nation's flag bearers at the opening ceremony. A volunteer was th ...

. With her former partner, Artem Tsoglin, she competed in the final segment at two

World Junior Figure Skating Championships The World Junior Figure Skating Championships are an annual figure skating competition sanctioned by the International Skating Union (ISU). Medals are awarded in men's singles, women's singles, pair skating, and ice dance. The first World J ...

(2017 and 2018).

Personal life

Kops was born in New York City, New York, and later lived in

West Orange, New Jersey West Orange is a suburban Township (New Jersey), township in Essex County, New Jersey, Essex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the township's population was 48,843, an increase of 2,636 (+5.7%) from t ...

. Her parents are Lisa and Steven Kops. She has four brothers Corey, Max, Evan, and Ty. Max played for an Israeli team called Maccabiah. her little brothers Evan and Ty play for an academy for PSA. She is an

Orthodox Jew Orthodox Judaism is a collective term for the traditionalist branches of contemporary Judaism. Theologically, it is chiefly defined by regarding the Torah, both Written and Oral, as literally revealed by God on Mount Sinai and faithfully tran ...

. Her older brother Corey plays

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

, in 2015-16, played for the Raanana Hitman of the Israeli League, and in 2017 played for the Kalkaska Rhinos in the

United States Premier Hockey League The United States Premier Hockey League (USPHL) is an American ice hockey league. Founded in 2012, the USPHL has grown to over 60 organizations from across the United States/Canada fielding teams in the National Collegiate Development Conference ...

in Michigan. In high school, she was home-schooled. After graduating from high school, she spent a gap year studying at the Orthodox Jewish Midreshet Amit Seminary in Jerusalem, Israel, in 2020-21.

Career

Kops began learning to skate in 2004. In 2016, she teamed up with Artem Tsoglin to compete for Israel in

pair skating Pair skating is a figure skating discipline defined by the International Skating Union (ISU) as "the skating of two persons in unison who perform their movements in such harmony with each other as to give the impression of genuine Pair Skating ...

. The two made their international debut in September 2016, placing 9th at the

ISU Junior Grand Prix in Russia The ISU Junior Grand Prix in Russia is an international figure skating competition. Sanctioned by the International Skating Union, it is periodically held in the autumn as part of the Junior Grand Prix (JGP) series. Medals may be awarded in men's ...

. In March, the pair finished 11th at the 2017 World Junior Championships in

Taipei , nickname = The City of Azaleas , image_map = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Taiwan#Asia#Pacific Ocean#Earth , coordinates = , subdivision_type = Country ...

, Taiwan. Kops/Tsoglin placed 16th at the 2018 World Junior Championships in

Sofia Sofia is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain, in the western part of the country. The city is built west of the Is ...

, Bulgaria. They were named to Israel's team for the

2019 European Figure Skating Championships The 2019 European Figure Skating Championships took place in Minsk, Belarus. Medals were awarded in the disciplines of men's singles, ladies' singles, pairs, and ice dancing. Records The following new ISU best scores were set during thi ...

Minsk Minsk (, ; , ) is the capital and largest city of Belarus, located on the Svislach (Berezina), Svislach and the now subterranean Nyamiha, Niamiha rivers. As the capital, Minsk has a special administrative status in Belarus and is the administra ...

, Belarus. After the end of her partnership with Tsoglin, Kops took some time away from the sport. She announced in the summer of 2021 that she had formed a new partnership with

. After three months' preparation, they competed at the

2021 CS Nebelhorn Trophy The 2021 CS Nebelhorn Trophy was held on September 22–25, 2021 in Oberstdorf, Germany. It was part of the 2021–22 ISU Challenger Series. It was also the final qualifying event for the 2022 Winter Olympics. Medals were awarded in the disciplin ...

to attempt to qualify a berth for

. Seventh in the short program, they were fourth in the free skate and rose to fifth overall, sufficient to qualify for the third of three available pairs spots. Kops/Krasnopolski qualified for the free skate in the pairs event, finishing fifteenth overall.

Programs

With Krasnopolski

With Tsoglin

Competitive highlights

''CS: Challenger Series; JGP:

Junior Grand Prix The ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating (titled the ISU Junior Series in the 1997–98 season) is a series of international junior-level competitions organized by the International Skating Union. Medals are awarded in the disciplines of men ...

Pairs with Krasnopolski

Pairs with Tsoglin

Ladies' singles

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kops, Hailey Esther 2002 births Israeli female pair skaters Israeli Orthodox Jews Living people Figure skaters from New York City Jewish American sportspeople Jewish Israeli sportspeople Sportspeople from West Orange, New Jersey Sportspeople from Hackensack, New Jersey 21st-century American Jews Figure skaters at the 2022 Winter Olympics Olympic figure skaters for Israel American people of Israeli descent 21st-century Israeli sportswomen