Smadja, the son of legendary judo trainer Maurice Smadja, showed he was no 'flash in the pan.'
By JEREMY LASTsmadja 88(photo credit: Courtesy)
It had taken 40 years for Israel to finally win a medal at an Olympic Games. Then at Barcelona, in 1992, the Israeli team managed to win two in a row. Just a day after Yael Arad made history with her silver medal in the half middleweight under 61kg category, fellow judoka Oren Smadja almost repeated the feat, coming away with a bronze in the men's under 71 category. The 22-year-old was on top of the world, proudly displaying his medal on return to Israel. Smadja, the son of legendary judo trainer Maurice Smadja, showed he was no 'flash in the pan' in the coming years. He came fourth in the 1994 European Championships and, after moving up a weight to the under 78kg category, took silver at the 1995 Judo World Championships in Chiba, Japan. While Smadja was tipped to at least retain his bronze medal at the 1996 Atlanta games, he sustained an injury in the first round and was defeated in the second. Smadja retired in 1999.
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