Bracha “Beatie” Deutsch. Photo: Facebook.

An American-Israeli marathon runner said that for the first time in her life she feels “pressured” to compete on Shabbat after having to miss yet another major competition due to her religious observance.

Beatie Deutsch, a New Jersey native and mother-of-five who moved to Israel in 2008, explained in a Facebook post on Wednesday that she qualified for the World Athletics Championships Budapest 2023. However the women’s marathon is scheduled for a Saturday, making it impossible for Deutsch to participate.

“I have kept Shabbat my entire life and it’s a mitzvah I cherish dearly,” Deutsch said in her Facebook post. “I never imagined myself even contemplating otherwise, and yet for the first time in my life I found myself feeling pressure to compete on Shabbat.”

“Will I lose my funding if I don’t prove myself and compete? I’m giving up such big opportunities Maybe this profession isn’t actually viable as an Orthodox Jew?” she questioned. “And I wonder– Is there any room for religious accommodations in sport? Is there any way to make changes to the system? Can we respect religious beliefs amongst athlete?”

This is not the first time Deutsch has been forced to choose her religious obligations over professional ones. In 2019, the Doha World Championships were scheduled on a Friday evening, while the 2020 Tokyo Olympics scheduled a woman’s marathon on Saturday morning, once again preventing Deutsch from competing.

“I was extremely disappointed but there was nothing I could do,” said Deutsch, 35, who is a previous winner of the Tiberias Marathon and the Jerusalem Marathon.

The runner, who has been nicknamed “Marathon Mom,” added that even after the Olympics were rescheduled because of the coronavirus pandemic, “they still refused to make any religious accommodations (although they had done so in the past when Ramadan coincided with the London Olympics).”

Deutsch said she asked her rabbi if there was a possibility that she could compete on Shabbat and said she was not surprised that his answer was no. She concluded by saying: “As I reflect on my journey, and the intense challenges and obstacles I’ve faced along the way, I know that the sacrifice I make for Shabbat, the commitment I make to uphold this holy day, is the most precious choice I will take with me.”

The marathon runner broke the course record for Israeli women at the 2018 Jerusalem Marathon. She has previously won the Israeli half marathon and marathon national championship, and the 2020 half-marathon at the annual Life Time Miami Marathon and Half Marathon event.