“It was an amazing feeling to stand on the podium in the first place, it’s a crazy experience, Ashram told reporters. “I’m still the most excited I’ve ever been.”
The Rishon Lezion native said “I was not alone, there was this huge crowd that came to cheer me on. It was a dream. I was waiting to see if the end result would be enough for me, happy to know that the hard work paid off.”
Ashram won an overall score of 107.800, placing first in the hoop, ball, and clubs exercises.
Three-time world champion, Russian Dina Averina, came in a close second to capture the silver medal with a total score of 107.650, while Belarusian Alina Harnasko picked up the bronze with a score of 102.700.
Israeli Nicol Zelikman, who also participated in the final, finished with an impressive seventh place, recording an overall score of 95.600.
Ashram started out the finals in incredible fashion, receiving a score of 27.550 in hoop, good for first place in the rotation while Zelikman placed 10th and last receiving a score of 23.700.
During the ball exercise, Ashram continued to perform fantastically, again placing first with a score of 28.300, to the tune of a remix of Alphaville’s “Big in Japan.”
Ashram had her best performance of the final in the third rotation, the clubs, with another impressive score of 28.650 set to a Beyonce medley of ‘Level up’, ‘Crazy in Love’, ‘Diva’ and ‘Run the World,’ which again placed her first for the round.
In the final rotation, the ribbon, Ashram scored 23.300, to place first overall with a total score of 107.800 to take home the gold.
Zelikman’s final exercise went fantastically, receiving a score of 22.150, to round out the final with an overall score of 95.600 and a come-from-behind seventh place finish after she had improved in each category after her slow start.
Ashram was heavily favored to earn Israel its first ever Olympic medal in Rhythmic Gymnastics and its fourth medal in the Tokyo 2020 Games, after racking up a host of medals in world competitions in recent years.
This was Israel’s thirteenth Olympic medal overall, the country’s third ever gold medal, and its second gold medal this week in the Tokyo Games after artistic gymnast Artem Dolgopyat won gold in the men’s floor exercise last Sunday.
After her seventh place finish, Nicol Zelikman said excitedly that “We are now two in the top eight in the world from Israel.”
“It was a dream come true, Linoy and I proved that we are a gymnastics powerhouse. I want to thank my whole family for all the 17 years they worked to help me reach my achievements. I was privileged to reach this dream.”
Transportation Minister and long-time feminist activist Merav Michaeli congratulated her achievement, referring to Ashram as a “Gold gymnast.”
In a statement following Ashram’s win, Michaeli wrote that “We all look at you and take example. Each woman and girl looks at you and sees how much talent, how much strength, how much courage, how much determination, how much personality you exude. Each of us looks at you and sees how far you can go. Thank you, Champion.”
The Russian Olympic Committee claimed that silver medalist Dina Averina was cheated by the judges, despite the fact that both of Averina’s appeals to her score failed to raise it above Ashram’s and make up the 0.150 difference in points.
“The whole world has seen the injustice,” the Russian Olympic Committee tweeted.
Ashram’s win broke a Russian stranglehold on the Olympic title that stretched back to 2000, with sisters Dina and Arina Averina heavily favored to win the title for the ROC once more.
The Averinas contested their scores in two rotations but both of Dina’s inquiries were unsuccessful, including one she made after Ashram was announced the winner.
An Olympic medal event since 1984, rhythmic gymnastics sees athletes perform exquisite contortions and maneuvers to music while using hoops, balls, clubs or ribbons.
Earlier on Saturday, the Rhythmic Gymnastics team qualified for the final with a fourth place finish in the all-around competition as Ofir Dayan, Yana Kramarenko, Natalie Raits, Yuliana Telegina and Karin Vexman will look to take a place on the podium on Sunday.
This will be Israel’s fourth consecutive Olympic final in this event which will include eight teams including Bulgaria, the Russian Olympic Committee and Italy.
Alberto Michan was the only Israeli rider to complete the course as the team didn’t advance to the final.