American-Israeli equestrian Ashlee Bond had some unfinished business at the Olympic Games this year, and she wasn’t about to let violent terrorist threats stop her.
The U.S.-born rider, whose father is Jewish, was one of 17 Team Israel athletes to receive threatening emails from a terrorist organization prior to the start of the Games. That, along with ongoing conflict in the Middle East due to the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas terror attack, meant there were serious safety concerns that simply could not be ignored.
Subscribe to have The Washington Times’ Higher Ground delivered to your inbox every Sunday.
“[It] singled me out personally, along with … I believe 16 other Israeli athletes from a terrorist organization threatening our lives and saying … ‘If you fly over, you drive over, we run the airports, we run the streets, we will have blood run in the streets like Munich [terrorist attack] in ’72,’” she recalled in a recent interview. “That was a little concerning.”
Thankfully, Ms. Bond, who was the first Christian athlete to ever represent Israel at the Olympics, took comfort in her faith. Her mom, film producer Cindy Bond, even organized a massive prayer chain of people who committed to pray for Team Israel leading up to and throughout the Games.
“It was truly remarkable, the outpouring of prayers we had covering us,” she said. “I believe in my gut that is why we did not experience anything other than true love and support the whole time we were there.”
SEE ALSO: Israel’s national anthem loudly jeered before Olympic soccer match against Mali
And while she describes the whole experience as “nerve wracking to say the least,” Ms. Bond never wavered in her decision to compete — nor her decision years ago to represent Israel, despite fears for her safety.
“I was 33 when I got my citizenship — on my 33rd birthday … I just felt this calling with my faith being a Christian, being that Jesus — that’s where He was born, and where He died, and where He rose again,” the now 39-year-old said. “And I had done enough for the U.S. team. I felt as though I had proven that I could ride for the U.S. team. … I felt it was time for me to make that change and to help along with my other teammates to bring Israel more recognition to the top of the sport and hopefully get others in Israel excited about hopefully getting into the equestrian sport.”
Ms. Bond and her Israeli teammates made history by advancing to the Olympic final of the show jumping team competition for the first time in history. In the end, they may not have secured a medal or the exact outcomes they wanted in the individual competitions, but the experience ended up being better than they could have imagined.
“It makes me really emotional,” she said. “We just had so much support, and the village was wonderful. I never had a bad experience. The athletes were great.”
And if there’s one thing Ms. Bond has learned from all that has happened over the past few months, it’s that cowering to evil is never the answer.
“I feel like now is the time to really stand up for what you believe in,” she noted prior to the Games, “and not let people silence you or scare you into not doing what you believe is the right thing.”
—
Marissa Mayer is a writer and editor with more than 10 years of professional experience. Her work has been featured in Christian Post, The Daily Signal, and Intellectual Takeout. Mayer has a B.A. in English with an emphasis in Creative Writing from Arizona State University.