It was an intense day at the Paris Olympics as Israeli athletes rode a wave of emotions.

In Cycling – Track, Mikhail Yakovlev surprised many in Men’s Sprint advancing all the way to the 1/8 Finals where he dropped to the repechage for a chance to advance to the quarterfinals but just missed out finishing in seance place in his heat to Mateusz Rudyk from Poland while Mohd Azizulhasni Awang from Malaysia finished in third.

The 23-year-old Yakovlev immigrated to Israel with his parents and grandmother from Russia in August of 2022 following the start of the war in Ukraine as he was unable to participate in international competition. After a tough battle, he was granted his release from Russia so that he could represent Israel.

Yakovlev has won a bronze medal at the World Championship in Men’s Keirin profession back in 2021 while with Russia as well as a bronze medal in the European Sprint Championship. This year, he captured bronze at the European Championships representing Israel in Sprint.

In his first event, the Men’s Sprint Qualifying, Yakovlev finished in 3rd place overall with a time of 9.152 which was a world record but it only held up for a few minutes and advanced to the 1/32 finals where he defeated Muhammad Shah Firdaus Sahrom from Malaysia by 0.569 with a time of 9.779 to advance to the 1/16 Finals.

In the 1/16 Finals, Yakovlev eased past Jair Ton En Fa from Suriname by 0.157 with a time of 9.895 to advance to the 1/8 Finals where he just came up short in a photo finish with Hamish Turnbull of Great Britain by .001 with a time of 9.74 dropping him to the repechage round for a final chance to advance to the quarterfinals but ultimately just fell shy.

Over in Taekwondo, Avishag Semberg disappointed in her bout against Dunya Ali Abutaleb from Saudi Arabia in the -49kg Round of 16 falling 2-1. After winning the 1st round 6-2, Semberg lost round two 5-4 and then was crushed 10-0 in the 3rd round to leave the Paris Games empty handed after having won a bronze in Tokyo.  
 
Semberg burst out into tears after the loss, “I’m really disappointed in myself. I don’t think this is the situation I was supposed to be in, it’s awful for me and for the entire country. I wanted to hear Hatikvah played.”

“I worked so hard all of my life for this moment and I didn’t compete the way I know how to compete. I didn’t have enough good moments, I’m worth much more than that and unfortunately you didn’t see it today, but I know I’m worth much more than that. My family is sitting here and it hurts my heart. I didn’t do my best kick enough times and I hate myself for not doing it more.”
 
In Marseille, both the Men’s and Women’s Kite races were postponed yet again due to inclement weather and lack of wind which allowed Gal Zukerman on the women’s side to advance to the semifinals, but Dor Zarka on the men’s was eliminated. The Mixed Dinghy team of Nitai Hasson and Noa Lasry also did not race as they will wait to compete in the medal races.