# Galit Chait

Galit Chait (Hebrew: גלית חייט, 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 Torino, 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 by Manhattan Transfer Rhumba by Mambo Kings Samba by Crazy Brazilians | Bolero by Maurice Ravel | |
| 2004–2005 | Quickstep: Sing, Sing, Sing by Benny Goodman Slow Foxtrot: Smile by Nat King Cole Quickstep: Sing, Sing, Sing by Benny Goodman | Toccata and Fugue in D minor by Johann Sebastian Bach | |
| 2003–2004 | Rock'n Roll: Keep Knocking by Little Richard Blues: Minnie the Moocher by Nino Rota Rock'n Roll: Keep Knocking by Little Richard | Pagliacci by Ruggero Leoncavallo Federico Fellini films | Gipsy Kings |
| 2002–2003 | March: Radetzky March op. 228 by Johann Strauss I Waltz by Dmitri Shostakovich Polka from the Bartered Bride by Bedřich Smetana Polka from the Bartered Bride by Bedřich Smetana Waltz by Dmitri Shostakovich Polka from the Bartered Bride by Bedřich Smetana | Variations on a Theme of Paganini by Andrew Lloyd Webber Lord of the Rings by Howard Shore Lord of the Dance by Ronan Hardiman | Stranger in My House by Tamia |
| 2001–2002 | Flamenco Paso Doble: Malaguena by Antonio Carrera Tango: El Tango de Roxanne (from Moulin Rouge!) by Jose Feliciano | Hava Nagila | Unforgettable by Natalie Cole, Nat King Cole |
| 2000–2001 | Quickstep: "Sing, Sing, Sing" by Louis Prima Foxtrot: "Bei mir bist du schön" by James Hopiner | Variations on a Theme of Paganini by Andrew Lloyd Webber | Unforgettable by Natalie Cole, Nat King Cole |
| 1999–2000 | Samba by Ricky Martin | 1492: Conquest of Paradise by Vangelis | |
| 1998–1999 | Waltz | Russian folk | |
| 1997–1998 | Hey Boy Hey Girl by Louis Prima | Jewish music | |
| 1996–1997 | Tango | My Sweet and Tender Beast by Eugen Doga | |
| 1995–1996 | Paso Doble | The Godfather by Nino Rota | |

## Competitive highlights

GP: Champions Series / Grand Prix

### With Sakhnovski

International :
| Event | 95–96 | 96–97 | 97–98 | 98–99 | 99–00 | 00–01 | 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 |
| GP Final | | | | | | 4th | 5th | 5th | | 4th | 4th |
| GP Cup of China | | | | | | | | | | 2nd | 2nd |
| GP Cup of Russia | | 7th | | | | 3rd | 2nd | | 3rd | | 2nd |
| GP Lalique | | | | 5th | 6th | | | | | | |
| GP Nations/Bofrost | | | 7th | 5th | | | | 2nd | | | |
| GP NHK Trophy | | | 7th | | 5th | | | 3rd | 3rd | | |
| GP Skate America | | | | | | 4th | 2nd | 4th | | 2nd | |
| GP 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 | |