21-year-old becomes fourth Israeli in history to claim a medal at the judo World Championships.
By ALLON SINAIalice shlesinger 88(photo credit: )
Alice Shlesinger became the fourth Israeli in history to claim a medal at the judo World Championships on Friday, finishing in third position in the under-63 kilogram competition in Rotterdam.
The 21-year-old joined Yael Arad (1991 - bronze, 1993 - silver), Oren Smadja (1995 - silver) and Arik Ze'evi (2001 - silver) in the short list of Israelis to win medals at World Championships, providing further proof that she is on the right track to win an Olympic medal at the 2012 London Games.
"This is an amazing feeling," Shlesinger said. "There were times during the day that I felt I might crack under the pressure, but I kept telling myself I would win. Every time you win a medal you tell yourself it can't get any better than this, but it does."
Shlesinger, who won bronze medals at each of the last two European Championships, began the day with a victory over Li Lan of China, but suffered a setback in the quarterfinals when she lost to Holland's Elisabeth Willeboordse.
However, the former European Junior champion shined in the repechage, defeating Ana Cachola of Portugal before getting the better of Russia's Vera Koval in the battle for the bronze medal.
In the final day of the championships on Sunday, Arik Ze'evi will hope to claim the Israeli delegation's second medal of the event when he competes in the men's under100kg competition.
