Ice dancer Chait marries Olympic sweetheart

(09/08/2008) - Two-time Olympic ice dance gold medalist Evgeny Platov was one of the groomsmen when former student Galit Chait wed Francesco Moracci on Aug. 23 in New Jersey. In his speech at the reception, he recalled the 2006 Olympic Winter Games in Turin, where Moracci was a member of the security detail assigned to guard the Israeli team.
"At the Olympics, Evgeny asked me, 'What did you do to this guy?' He told that story at the wedding," Chait said with a laugh. "He told everyone, 'Galit found her match at the Olympics.'"

Chait, 33, and former partner Sergei Sakhnovsky competed in three Olympics and 11 world championships. Their skating career and partnership ended when Sakhnovsky suffered a foot injury in 2006.

Today, Chait coaches at Floyd Hall Arena in Montclair, N.J., where her students include reigning Israeli ice dance champions Alexandra and Roman Zaretski, who were among the guests at the wedding. Other friends from the skating world included Nina and Viktor Petrenko, Johnny Weir, Natalia Gudina, Alexander Kirsanov and Debbie and Oleg Fediukov.

In addition to the Zaretskis, Chait coaches an Israeli junior team who will compete at the Junior Grand Prix event in Sheffield, Great Britain, in October, as well as an American novice dance team. The Zaretskis will begin their season at the Nebelhorn Trophy in Oberstdorf, Germany, and then have two Grand Prix events, the Cup of China and the Cup of Russia. Preparation for the season made a honeymoon impossible.

"Monday morning I was at the rink at 7 a.m.," Chait said. "We're going to take a honeymoon after the world championships."

She only took the day before the wedding off because her students were in Virginia skating in a show. She also knew every detail had been carefully attended to, so she could thoroughly enjoy her "beautiful day."

Chait had two wedding dresses, one for the ceremony and one for the reception. The latter one was made at a bridal store in Brooklyn, N.Y., appropriately named Galit. The dress had a long skirt (shown in the photos), in which Chait made her entrance and danced a traditional hora and tarantella. Then she switched into a short skirt for the rest of the evening, which lasted until nearly 3 a.m.

"We had a great band, and they were playing great music," she said. "I danced with everybody. We were dancing all night."

Moracci, 31, was born in Florence, and the reception was held at the Estate at Florentine Gardens. "This wasn't on purpose, but it was so appropriate," Chait said.

Chait understands the dynamics of a partnership and how to have longevity, but she also pays homage to good fortune. "He's a great person and a great guy," she said. "I'm really lucky to have met somebody like that."

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