Israel took home a bronze medal on Saturday morning, after a tense final competition against the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) in the mixed-team judo tournament.
The victory was particularly emotional for the team, as individually the athletes had faced criticism for not having won any medals during this Olympics despite Israel’s success in the sport.
The bronze medal match did not start out well either. Israel took a blow in the first round of the match, as Gili Sharir lost to Madina Taimazova, giving the ROC a 1:0 lead. However, Israel made up lost ground quickly when 2019 World Champion Sagi Muki won his round against Mikhail Igolnikov, and Raz Hershko won hers against Aleksandra Babintseva, making the score 2:1.
Next up was Peter Palchik against Tamerlan Bashaev, and after a long match, he walked away with another victory for Israel, making the score 3:1.
Timna Nelson Levy took on Daria Mezhetskaia and clinched the medal for Israel.
“Everyone gave their heart and soul and that is what we won here,” Muki said in his statement after the victory. “To come here after everyone failed in the individual matches, it required a further transcendence.”
Peter Paltchik added that “It is a special day. The togetherness we have as a team made all the difference. We overcame a Judo powerhouse in the ROC.”
Nelson Levy said that “The criticism we received was unjustified. Everybody on this team gave everything they had. We showed what we are worth as a team,” he added.
Prime Minister Naftali Bennett congratulated the team on Twitter Saturday evening.
אל אל ישראל!ברכות לנבחרת הג׳ודו שלנו.אחרי ההפסד של שגיא מוקי בשבוע שעבר שוחחתי איתו. היה לי חשוב לומר לו שאני גאה בו על הדרך ועל הדוגמא שהוא נותן לנוער. היום מוקי ושאר החברים בנבחרת הג׳ודו הראו לכולנו איך קמים מנפילה. כל הכבוד—עם ישראל גאה בכם! pic.twitter.com/3xd3AJyzwm
— Naftali Bennett בנט (@naftalibennett) July 31, 2021
יש!!! אלופות ואלופים. pic.twitter.com/x5sNNVhqOz
— יאיר לפיד - Yair Lapid (@yairlapid) July 31, 2021
Foreign Minister Yair Lapid also reacted on Twitter, calling the athletes champions.
President Isaac Herzog spoke with former Israeli judoka and coach Oren Smadja on Saturday evening, congratulating the judo team on their success.
“You brought the spirit of Israeli unity to Tokyo. Our strength is in our unity, it is an important lesson for us all,” said Herzog. “The entire state of Israel is proud of you.”
Herzog also added that he is looking forward to the Olympic team’s return to Israel, as he intends to host them in the President’s Residence to celebrate their achievements.
The victory came after a disappointing start to the day, when the team lost the quarterfinals to France after a tense 4:3 tie-breaking match which Gili Sharir lost to Margaux Pinot on Saturday morning.
In the first battle of the match, Timna Nelson-Levy gave Israel an early 1:0 win against France’s Sarah-Léonie Cysique, before France managed to equalize in the second round when Guillaume Chaine scored a victory against Tohar Butbul, bringing the score to 1:1.
Sharir then won in a match against Pinot in an impressive round lasting more than seven minutes, and Li Kochman continued her work, winning his battle against Axel Clerget, bringing the score to 3:1 in Israel’s favor.
France gained ground in their fifth match-up, however, as Raz Hershko lost her match to Romane Dicko, bringing the overall score to 3:2, which was levelled out again when France’s Teddy Riner beat out Or Sasson, bringing the match to a tie-breaker.
Sharir, who won her previous tie-breaker against Italy, fought Pinot in a 4:25 minute match after which Pinot was declared the winner.
After winning the quarterfinals, the French team went on to win the gold medal, beating Japan 4-1 in the final and helping their heavyweight legend Teddy Riner add to his collection of Olympic medals.
Having lost the quarterfinals, the Israel team moved down to the repechage tournament where they won their match against Brazil, gaining entry into the bronze medal tournament against the ROC.
The Israeli team had advanced to the quarterfinals of the mixed team competition earlier in the day after defeating Italy in a 4:3 tie-breaking match, with two impressive wins by Sharir against bronze medalist Maria Centracchio, giving Israel the edge.
Elsewhere in the Olympic competitions over the weekend Israeli athletes got off to a wonderful start in the realm of athletics.
In the Women’s 5000m, Selamawit Teferi not only set an Israeli record running 14:53.43 but also punched her ticket to the final of the event which is slated to take place on Monday at 3:40 p.m. Israel time. Teferi began slow over the first half of the race but picked up the pace over the final 2000m. to finish 8th in Heat 1 which was good enough to advance to the coveted final round as none of the runners in Heat 2 were able to top the Israeli’s time.
The 27-year old, who was born in Ethiopia, married Marhu Teferi ,who will be participating in the Men’s Marathon. They are the first ever blue-and-white married couple taking part in an Olympics Games. Following Monday’s final, Selamawit will prepare for the 10,000m. which will be run next Saturday.
Hanna Knyazyeva-Minenko also booked her place in a final when she put up a distance of 14.36 in the Triple Jump marking the third time that the Ukrainian native will participate in the decisive round at the Olympic Games.
At the 2016 Rio Olympics, Minenko finished in 5th place with a jump of 14.68 while in 2012 when she was still representing Ukraine a distance of 14.56 was good enough for 4th place just shy of a bronze medal. The final round will take place on Sunday at 2:15 p.m. Israel time as the 31-year-old will look to finally reach the podium.
“I needed to be mentally tough and it’s not simple,” explained Minenko following her jump. “I tried to do the absolute maximum and I wouldn’t forgive myself if I didn’t make it. In the final I will have to take my chances and have no fear. It’s an Olympic final and I’ve got to give it my all.”
Also on Sunday artistic gymnast Artem Dolgopyat will be in the final of the Floor Exercise as the Israeli will look to build off of his first place qualifying performance last week.
In the 100 m. Diana Vaisman ran an 11.27, good for 4th in her heat and 23rd overall. However, only the top 3 runners in each one of the seven heats, plus the best 3 times after that, advance.
Unfortunately for the Israeli, a number of runners in the top three of their respective heats ran slower than the 23-year old but due to the rules Vaisman came up just short in joining Teferi and Minenko in a final.
On the Judo mat 2016 Rio Games Bronze medalist Ori Sasson succumbed to two-time Olympic Gold medalist Teddy Riner in his first bout of the competition via Waza-Ari. Over in the Women’s competition, Raz Hershko defeated Tahani Alqahtani from Saudi Arabia in her first bout but fell to Japan’s Akira Sone in the Round of 16.
However, the big story was the fact that Hershko faced the Saudi Arabian who didn’t back out due to pressure not to face an Israeli Judoka. The Saudi Minister of Sport authorized that Alqahtani not withdraw after a pair of Judokas from Sudan and Algeria backed out of their matchup with Israeli Tohar Butbul. Following the bout, the two shook hands and raised them to the air in triumph, putting sports ahead of politics.
“I am happy that she competed against me and I am thrilled that politics stayed off of the mat,” Hershko said. “I shook her hand and I insisted that we do so as this isn’t something that should be taken for granted, that we faced one another despite the tremendous pressure on her.”
Over in the pool Aviv Barzelay swam in the semifinals of the Women’s 200m Backstroke but her time of 2:12.93 was only good enough for 15th place and didn’t advance to the finals.
Andi Murez took part in the Women’s 50 m. Freestyle but her time of 25.48 landed her in 30th place and wasn’t good enough to move on to the next round. Meiron Cheruti just missed out of moving on in the Men’s 50 m. Freestyle with a time of 22.01, falling just .04 short of advancing to the semifinals.
The Mixed 4x100 Medley Relay team of Anastasia Gorbenko, Andi Murez, Itay Goldfaden and Gal Cohen Groumi competed in the final of the event and finished in 8th place with a time of 3:44:77.
In Windsurfer RS:X, Yoav Cohen won the medal race on Saturday to come within one point of winning a bronze medal as a number of competitors were disqualified.
However, Jun Bi of China finished fourth in the race to knock the Israeli out at the last second. In the women’s competition, Katy Spykachov ended her final race in 10th place and finished 6th overall.
Noya Baram and Schachar Tibi continued competing in Women’s Two Person Dinghy 470 and finished both race 5 and 6 in 11th place dropping them to 8th place overall in the competition. Shay Kakon also was in action in Laser Radial race 9 and 10 and had an exceptional day finishing in 2nd and 5th respectively to move up to 30th place overall.
In Archery, Itay Shanny fell to Chih-Chun Tang of Chinese Taipei 6-5 in the Round of 16 and was eliminated from medal contention.