She claimed her first Paralympic medal at Rio last summer, taking a bronze.
By ALLON SINAIIsraeli paralympian rower Moran Samuel takes silver medal at World Championships.(photo credit: DETLEV SEYB)
Paralympian Moran Samuel claimed a silver medal at the World Rowing Championships in Sarasota, Florida, on Sunday.The 35-year-old Israeli came up just short in her attempt to defend her world title from two years ago, but was nevertheless delighted after scaling the podium at the championships for a third straight edition.Samuel won a bronze medal in 2011 and took a silver in 2014 before striking gold in 2015. She claimed her first Paralympic medal at Rio last summer, taking a bronze.She crossed the finish line after 2,000 meters on Sunday in a new Israeli best time of 11:20.81 minutes, but still six seconds behind Norway’s Birgit Skarstein. The championships in Sarasota are the first in which the Para competitions are also being contested over a two kilometer course, like the rest of the events, rather than just over one kilometer.“I’m thrilled to once again represent Israel successfully, and return home with a medal,” said Samuel, who trains alternately at Gavirate in Italy and at the Daniel Rowing Center in Tel Aviv.“Doubling the course length from 1,000 to 2,000 meters set the ground for a tough struggle, demanding extreme endurance. We have time until the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics to learn the best way to compete over this new distance. Although I wanted to defend my title, I’m happy to finish as runner-up and I’m going to celebrate!”
