22-year-old Israeli joins Amit Inbar and Gal Fridman as only Israelis to win multiple awards; Olympic medalist Zubari comes in 13th.
By ALLON SINAImashiah windsurfing 311(photo credit: RS:X Championships Web site)
Nimrod Mashiah won his second straight medal at the RS:X Windsurfing World Championships on Saturday, finishing in third position in Kerteminde, Denmark.The 22-year-old from Michmoret, who claimed a silver medal at the event last year, joins Amit Inbar and Gal Fridman as the only Israelis to win multiple medals at the championships.Mashiah entered Saturday’s medal race in third place, and after leading for much of the final day, ended the race in sixth to hold on to third overall.Israel’s two-time reigning European Champion, Shahar Zubari, was disappointing at the worlds yet again, finishing in 17th place a year after coming 13th.While Zubari, the 2008 Beijing bronze medalist, has shined at the Europeans, Mashiah only came in 10th place in the last two continental championships.However, he has outperformed Zubari at the worlds and the results in Demark further complicate the fight between the two to represent Israel at the 2012 London Olympics, with each country only being allowed to send one windsurfer to the Games.Lee Korzits missed out on a medal in the women’s competition in Demark, finishing in sixth position overall after only managing to end the medal race in eighth place.Despite the disappointment, the 26-year-old 2003 World Champion can be pleased with her performance over the past week, meeting the Olympic Committee of Israel’s criteria for the London Games.Ma’ayan Davidovich, Israel’s leading female windsurfer in recent years, who ended July’s European in 10th place, finished in 29th position.
