As the curtain came down on the 2024 Paris Olympics, Israel can hold its head up very high having captured 7 medals, the most that any blue-and-white delegation won during a single Games. With one gold, five silvers and a bronze, there is no doubt that Israel didn’t just meet their expectations but exceeded them and exceeded them by far.
Two medals in windsurfing via Tom Reuveny who won Israel’s lone gold and Sharon Kantor who took home a silver, a trio of medals in Judo with Raz Hershko and Inbar Lanir winning silver to go along with Peter Paltchik’s bronze plus a silver from Artem Dolgopyat in artistic gymnastics floor exercise and finally another silver by the group all-around in rhythmic gymnastics marks for a smashing success in France.
The Israel Olympic Committee can be proud of the thrills and chills they provided for the nation in what was a compelling Olympics from the Sabra contingent in the shadow of the war with Hamas. Outside of the medal winners, there were ups and there were downs. Whether it was Daria Atamanov’s fantastic showing in rhythmic gymnastics with a superb 5th place finish setting her up for what can be a stellar Los Angeles Games in 2028 to Avishag Semeberg’s devastating loss in the first round of Taekwondo which saw her break out into tears, the emotional rollercoaster was second to none.
The ride that the entire country was on offered a bit of a distraction from the imminent threats from Iran and Hezbollah and that was more than welcome due to the situation back home. But at no point did any Israeli athlete not understand the importance of their performance for the morale of the country and the responsibility that they had representing the blue-and-white.
Goosebumps was at the forefront time and time again over the course of these two plus weeks but when Hatikva was played in Marseille after Reuveny took home gold, that was the pinnacle for any Israeli. That was the dream, to hear Hatikva played for the entire world to hear and Reuveny, who was not a medal favorite heading into the Games provided the excitement that left all of Israel speechless.
The fact that Reuveny’s coach is Gal Fridman, Israel’s first gold medalist made the storybook ending even that more satisfying while Kantor’s coach was Shachar Tzuberi, an Olympic bronze medalist himself.
There is rarely an Olympics these days that a medal in judo is unexpected, the Israeli team knew full well that Yael Arad, Israel’s first ever medalist at the 1992 Games in judo set a standard that many have followed since. From Arik Zeevi, Ori Sasson and Yarden Gerbi, judo is a sport that Israelis have been extremely successful in on a week-to-week basis in Grand Prixs, Grand Slams, World Championships and European Championships, but ultimately winning a medal at the Olympics can’t ever be taken for granted.
When Lanir and Hershko won their semifinal bouts, the joy was evident that they knew they would be coming home with a medal, while Paltchik’s came via the repechage and offered so much emotions that one could feel what he was experiencing right through the television set.
Dolgopyat had a tough qualifying round that could have meant the end of his gold medal defense but he slipped into the finals and put up an impressive performance which allowed him to win silver to his delight.
The group all-around rhythmic gymnastics team of Ofir Shaham, Diana Svertsov, Adar Friedmann, Romi Paritzki and Shani Bakanovalso didn’t have a very good qualifying showing but they were able to get into the finals and once you’re in, you’re in to win and they did just that. After a finer 5 Hoops rotation, the squad put in a masterful routine in 3 Ribbons and 2 Balls to take the silver.
This would not have been able to occur had it not been for the team’s coaches, Ayelet Zussman and Linoy Ashram who won gold at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics with Zussman at her side. Without the winning mentality that the pair were able to imbue in the team, there is no way that they would have been able to rise to the occasion in the finals as it’s not just the physical side of the performance that gave them a place on the podium but it’s also the mental side of the game.
We saw that all of Israel’s medalists were mentally strong and had that extra edge when it came down to money time and that is something that can’t be discounted one bit.
All in all, these Olympic Games will go down in the history books for Israel and the standard has been set for 2028 in LA. But the blue-and-white can’t rest on their laurels, they will need to now start working on what comes next and how they can better on 2024 because that is who we are as a nation; we are always looking to take the next step and ready for the next challenge that is right around the corner.
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