“All for one and one for all”, that should be the motto of the Israel Olympic Judo team that won a bronze medal in the Mixed Team Event after having struggled all week long in the individual bouts.

There were high hopes going into the Tokyo Games as Israel entered the Judo competition with the 2019 World Champion Sagi Muki, the 2016 Rio Olympics Bronze medalist Ori Sasson along with the 2020 European Champion Peter Paltchik.

However, only two Israelis advanced to a medal bout, Shira Rishony on the women’s side on the first day of the competition and Baruch Shmailov, both of which fell in their respective bronze medal matchups.

There was a heavy air of disappointment as each Judoka lost one after the next, sparking heavy criticism and finger pointing from many including Israel’s first Olympic medalist Yael Arad who serves as the Chairperson of the Professional Committee and is a board member of the Israel Olympic Committee.

“It’s fine to lose, but only after you’ve given everything you’ve got and here we didn’t see that from a number of athletes,” Arad said on Army Radio before the final judo event.

Oren Smadga, the first Israeli men’s medalist who now serves as the Men’s Judo head coach shot back immediately after the team won the bronze medal, “Unfortunately, someone from the Olympic Committee went on the radio during our preparations for the event and spoke out against our athletes, the national team coach and the chairman. We are in the middle of the competition and that is just something that you don’t do. We have plenty of self-criticism and one doesn’t need to do so from the outside.”

There’s no question that there were high expectations going into these games as each one of the Judokas competing had won medals at Grand Prixs, Grand Slams, European Championships and World Championships. But one needs to remember that at some of those events the bets of the best aren’t always present but at the Olympics, you can bet that they’ll be there ready to give it their all on the grandest stage in order to take home the gold.

All of those other competitions are wonderful. The accomplishments of each and every one of the Judokas from Tohar Butbul to Gili Sharir and Timna Nelson-Levy to Li Kochman show that they are worthy to represent the blue-and-white flag, but the Olympic Games proves who the cream of the crop really is and in this case, the team and not the individuals were exactly that.

There was concern that the mental state of the Judokas had been compromised and that Israel would be bounced swiftly in the team event after such a tough week on the tatami.

Knowing that all of the country’s eyes were watching them, Israel almost succumbed to the pressure as they fell behind Italy 3-2. With the critics sharpening their knives, the blue-and-white needed Olympic rookies Raz Hershko and Gili Sharir to pull them out of the fire by winning the last two bouts to advance to the quarterfinals and that is what they promptly did.

Against eventual Gold medalist France, Israel jumped out to a surprising 3-1 lead but couldn’t hold on as they moved down to the Repechage where they set to take on Brazil. Wins by Timna Nelson-Levy and Peter Paltchik gave Israel a 4-2 victory and an air of confidence with a chance to capture a bronze.

This time facing the Russian Olympic Committee, Sagi Muki, Hershko, Paltchik and Nelson-Levy gave the nation of Israel something to jump for joy about, another medal at the Olympic Games while shaking that proverbial monkey right off of their collective backs.

“This was a day that everyone gave it their all,” explained Muki. “If one of us didn’t give all of their heart, this wouldn’t have happened. Each one of us is a fighter and the unity is what helped us win. We proved that we are one of the best national teams in the world. This medal is for the entire State of Israel.”

Ori Sasson also reflected about the victory, “An injured animal is always most dangerous. We were broken and we were able to come back and win a medal. We are a family and that is what willed us to success.”

“Everyone eulogized us too soon,” Peter Paltchik began. “This win was so important for the State of Israel and the next generation who are dreaming to succeed in sports and accomplish their goals. We may not have been able to win as individuals but together as a team, each and every one of us gave a little extra. We gave our all to have a medal placed around our necks.”

Finally, Smadja made sure to silence the critics once and for all, “I want to bring my country joy. My father, one of the founders of Judo in Israel, celebrated his 89th birthday and it was important for me to finish with a medal at these Games. He was very clear to me and said we would win a medal. He told me, ‘Oren, you won’t return home without a medal,’ as he told me in 1992. My name is on 8 Olympic medals with 6 of them coming today.”