Itamar Biran ( he, איתמר בירן; born 3 March 1998) is an Israeli Olympic alpine ski racer who represents Israel in international competitions. He competes in

giant slalom Giant slalom (GS) is an alpine skiing and alpine snowboarding discipline. It involves skiing between sets of poles ("gates") spaced at a greater distance from each other than in slalom but less than in Super-G. Giant slalom and slalom make up t ...

Super-G Super giant slalom, or super-G, is a racing discipline of alpine skiing. Along with the faster downhill, it is regarded as a "speed" event, in contrast to the technical events giant slalom and slalom. It debuted as an official World Cup event d ...

slalom To slalom is to zigzag between obstacles. It may refer to: Sports ;Alpine skiing and/or snowboarding * Slalom skiing, an alpine skiing and alpine snowboarding discipline * Giant slalom, an alpine skiing and alpine snowboarding discipline * Super-G ...

and Combined.

Biography

Itamar Biran is a dual U.K./Israel citizen, and is Jewish.Alpine Skiing , Athlete Profile: Itamar BIRAN - Pyeongchang 2018 Olympic Winter Games
/ref> When Biran was six years old, his family moved to Verbier, Switzerland. They then moved to Israel, and subsequently he attended

University College School ("Slowly but surely") , established = , closed = , type = Public schoolIndependent day school , religion = , president = , head_label = Headmaster , head = Mark Beard , r_head_label = , r_hea ...

in London in the United Kingdom.Attain News , Attain Magazine , Former UCS Pupil Bids For Gold In Winter Olympics
/ref> He now lives and trains in

Les Houches Les Houches () is a commune in the Haute-Savoie department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of Eastern France. In 2017, it had a population of 2,943. Overview Les Houches, located 6 kilometres from Chamonix, is a ski resort with a domain whic ...

, France, and in Switzerland. He is studying in

Bocconi University Bocconi University ( it, Università Commerciale Luigi Bocconi, ) is a private university in Milan, Italy. Bocconi provides education in the fields of economics, finance, law, management, political science, public administration and computer sci ...

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

, Italy, He said "I started skiing like all Israelis do: At Club Meds in Europe." Biran started to ski at age three, and to compete at age 12. His ski club is the Israel Ski Club, and his coach is Didier Schmidt.BIRAN Itamar – Biographie
/ref>

Skiing career

Biran competed on behalf of Israel at the 2016 Winter Youth Olympics in

Lillehammer, Norway Lillehammer () is a municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Gudbrandsdal. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Lillehammer. Some of the more notable villages in the municip ...

, and came in 23rd in the Alpine Combined, and 38th in the Super G. In January 2017 he won the Italian National Junior Slalom Race, in

Valtournenche Valtournenche (local Valdôtain: ) is a town and ''comune'' in the Aosta Valley region of north-western Italy, above the sea level. It is named after and covers most of the ''Valtournenche'', a valley on the left side of the Dora Baltea, from C ...

. In February 2017 he came in second in the Bosnia and Herzegovina National Championships in slalom, and third in the Bosnia and Herzegovina Junior National Championships in slalom. In March 2017, he came in second in the CIT Giant Slalom in Villard de Lans, France. In November 2017 he won the CIT Slalom in

Val Thorens Val Thorens (), is a ski town located in the Tarentaise Valley, Savoie, French Alps at an altitude of . It is located in the commune of Saint-Martin-de-Belleville in the Savoie department. The resort forms part of the Les Trois Vallées ski are ...

, France. Biran competed at the 2015 World Championships in Beaver Creek, USA, and qualified for the final race in the

in which he finished 62nd. He also competed in the Men's Slalom final, but did not finish the first run. He was the only male Israeli athlete and the youngest participant at these championships. He was among two participants who represented Israel at the

2016 Winter Youth Olympics The 2016 Winter Youth Olympics ( no, Olympiske vinterleker for ungdom 2016; nn, Olympiske vinterleikane for ungdom 2016), officially known as the II Winter Youth Olympic Games, took place in and around Lillehammer, Norway, between 12 February an ...

Lillehammer Lillehammer () is a municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Gudbrandsdal. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Lillehammer. Some of the more notable villages in the municip ...

. He represented

Israel at the 2018 Winter Olympics Israel competed at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, from 9 to 25 February 2018, with ten competitors in four sports. Competitors The following is a list of the number of Israeli competitors participating at the Games per s ...

, having raced in the slalom on 18 February and in the giant slalom on 22 February. Biran is 6 feet 2 inches tall and weighs 176 pounds.BIRAN Itamar , Pyeongchang 2018 Olympics
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References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Biran, Itamar 1998 births Sportspeople from London Israeli male alpine skiers Living people Alpine skiers at the 2016 Winter Youth Olympics Alpine skiers at the 2018 Winter Olympics Olympic alpine skiers of Israel Jewish Israeli sportspeople Jewish British sportspeople People educated at University College School