Beatie Deutsch is the Israeli national champion in the marathon and half marathon. Image by Instagram/marathonmother

JERUSALEM (JTA) — Beatie Deutsch, a Sabbath-observing mother of five and aspiring Olympic marathoner in Israel, has hired an attorney to ensure that she can run in the race next year.

The marathon at the Tokyo games, which were postponed from this summer because of the coronavirus, is set for a Saturday in August 2021.

Deutsch’s attorney wrote to the Executive Board of the International Olympic Committee requesting the event, which is usually run on a Sunday, be moved. It was listed for a Sunday when the 2020 Olympics schedule was announced but later changed when a venue outside of Tokyo was chosen for the race.

Forwarding the News

Thoughtful, balanced reporting from the Forward and around the web, bringing you updated news and analysis each day.

Terms(Required)

I agree to the Forward's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Email(Required)

In March, when the Tokyo Olympics were changed to 2021, Deutsch wrote a letter to the International Olympic Committee to request that the event be held on a day other than Saturday.

The response, according to the Aug. 18 letter from attorney Akiva Shapiro of the New York law firm of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, was that “once dates and session times are agreed and set, the scheduling of events to cater for religious practices is just not something we can accommodate given the range of religious considerations we would have to take into account across the 2,000 athletes that compete in athletics.”

In his letter to the Executive Committee, Shapiro wrote that “The concept of reasonable accommodations for religious beliefs and observances is a well-established principle under U.S. law, which provides a readily applicable framework for balancing individual rights against countervailing considerations and practicalities.” He noted that religious accommodations were made for Muslim athletes in the 2012 Summer Olympics, which coincided with Ramadan, including alternative meal times, and scheduling endurance events early in the day.

Beatie Deutsch Image by Instagram

Deutsch, who moved to Israel from New Jersey in 2009, is known for running in a skirt, sleeves that fall below her elbow and a headscarf. The Orthodox runner does not train or compete from sundown on Friday until sundown on Saturday. Deutsch missed the last World Championships because the marathon was run on a Friday night.

She ran her first marathon less than five years ago, at the age of 26, and her second in Tel Aviv while seven months pregnant with her fifth child.

“Ms. Deutsch is in a unique position to be a role model to others, particularly women and athletes of every faith, as her story illustrates that it is never too late to chase one’s dreams, and that athletes can do so while balancing motherhood and staying true to their values,” her attorney wrote.

Deutsch has yet to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics either by its time of 2:29:30 or by world ranking.

The post Orthodox runner, Israeli mother of 5, hires attorney in bid to move marathon from Saturday appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.

The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.

Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.

Readers like you make it all possible. We’ve started our Passover Fundraising Drive, and we need 1,800 readers like you to step up to support the Forward by April 21. Members of the Forward board are even matching the first 1,000 gifts, up to $70,000.

This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism, because every dollar goes twice as far.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

2X match on all Passover gifts!

$90 → $180 $180 → $360

$360 → $720

Other amount