Anastastia Gorbenko continued to turn heads in the pool as the 17-year old became the first Israeli woman to advance to a swimming final as she punched her ticket to the 100m Backstroke which is slated to take place early Tuesday morning at 4:51am Israel time. Gorbenko set a new Israeli record in the process of qualifying for the final with a time of 59:30 which was good enough for 4th in the first semifinal heat. Gorbenko is the first Israeli swimmer to advance to a final since Yakov Toumarkin did so back in 2012 at the London Olympics where he placed 7th in the 200m Backstroke.

Later in the day Gorbenko qualified for the Women’s 200m Individual Medley semifinals after finishing in 7th place with a time of 2:10:21 in the qualifying round. The semifinals will also take place on Tuesday at 5:58 in the morning just a little over an hour after she will be competing in the 100m Backstroke final.

Andi Murez took part in the Women’s 200m Freestyle and finished in 19th place with a time of 1:58:97 whihc was not good enough to move onto the next round.

Over on the Judo mat it was a disappointing day for the Sabras. in Women’s -57kg, Timna Nelson-Levy lost in the repechage to Kaja Kajzer via Ippon to end the Tokyo Olympics empty handed. Nelson-Levy won her Round of 16 bout against Marica Perisic but then fell to Tsukasa Yoshida from Japan in the quarterfinal and then the Slovenian opponent in the repechage. In Men’s judo, Tohar Butbul in the -73kg category lost to Canadian Arthur Margelidon by Ippon in the repechage. Earlier in the day, Butbul did not have to face an opponent in the Round of 32 as both competitors, Fethi Nourine from Algeria and Mohamed Abdalrasool from Sudan backed out of their match in order not to have to face the Israeli.

Brothers Shachar and Ran Sagiv had excellent performances in the Men’s Triathlon as they finished in 20th and 35th place respectively. One of the toughest disciplines in the Olympic Games which combines swimming 1.5km, cycling 40km and running 10km saw Shachar finish with an overall time of 1:47:10 just 2:06 off of the gold medalist Kristian Blummenfelt while Ran ended the competition in 1:49:04.

Katy Spychakov remained in 5th place overall in Windsurfer RS:X after completing Races 4, 5 and 6. In Spychkov’s first race of the day, the Israeli medal hopeful finished in 7th place followed by 10th and then a 3rd place finish in her final race of the day. Spychakov will have an off day on Tuesday but will then be back for two straight days of races on Wednesday and Thursday as she will look to improve her standing in order to find a way onto the podium.

In Men’s Windsurfer RS:X, Yoav Cohen maintained his 5th place overall after finishing in 7th in both race 4 and 5 and 8th in race 6. After an off day on Tuesday, Cohen will continue with back to back days of competition on Wednesday and Thursday with the medal race slated for Saturday.

Shay Kakon ended races 3 and 4 in 38th and 18th place respectively in Women’s Laser Radial which was good enough to move up to 31st place overall.

In Badminton, Misha Zilberman fell in his second Group D match to Mark Cljouw from the Netherlands 2-1. After taking the first set 21-17 and raising hopes, Zilberman lost the next two frames 21-9 and 21-10. Zilberman, who does not control his own destiny will have to wait until Tuesday to find out if he will advance to the Round of 16, once the other competitors complete their matches.

Cyclist Shlomi Haimy finished in 33rd place in the Men’s Cross Country race.

Tuesday July 27 could be a big day with Anastasia Gorbenko in the pool and Sagi Muki on the Judo mat
4:51 Swimming – Anastasia Gorbenko 100m Backstroke Final
5:00 Judo – –63kg Gili Sharir v Katharina Haecker Round of 32
5:00 Judo – –81kg Sagi Muki v Eduardo Santos Round of 32
5:58 Swimming – Anastasia Gorbenko 200m Individual Medley Semifinal
6:00 Sailing – Shay Kakon Laser Radial Race 3,4
10:00 Archery – Itay Shanny
13:00 Swimming – Meiron Cheruti 100m Freestyle qualification
13:50 Swimming – Ron Polonsky 200m Breaststroke qualification
14:20 Swimming – Men’s 4×200 Freestyle Relay Team