By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
Of all the major international sporting competitions Israel has competeted in, the nation's most impressive showings have come at the Paralympic Games - the event held every four years just after the Olympic Games for disabled athletes.
Chagai Zamir is one of the most outstanding of the Israelis who have represented their country at the Paralympics.
Already an up and coming volleyball player for Ashkelon, Zamir lost a leg and suffered severe hand and facial injuries while serving as a paratrooper in the IDF in 1970.
After a period of rehabilitation Zamir returned to action, captaining Israel's disabled Volleyball Team to a gold medal at the 1976 Paralympics.
That year also saw Zamir's Israel win the gold at the World Championships, and European Cup.
In a 17-year volleyball career Zamir won 15 medals in the three competitions, including Paralympic golds in 1980 and 1984, and a silver medal in 1988.
In 1998 zamir became only the fourth Israeli to be elected as a member of the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame.
Tomorrow: A basketball coach who took Europe by storm