Brushing off threats and boos, Israel’s 7 medals mark its best-ever Olympic showing
With only muted anti-Israel sentiment despite heightened tensions, athletes bring home 1 gold, 5 silver and 1 bronze medal from Paris Games and notch a number of other achievements
Amy Spiro is a reporter and writer with The Times of Israel
After heading to the Paris Olympics under the shadow of death threats and expected provocations, Israel wrapped up its best ever Games on Sunday with a record seven medals.
While there was heightened concern over the reception Israeli athletes would receive in Paris amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas war, anti-Israel protests and demonstrations were largely muted throughout the 16 days of competitions, limited to a handful of posters and signs at matches and a smattering of boos during events.
Heading in with a goal of making their presence known and refusing to retreat in the face of threats and efforts to boycott and ban them, Israel’s athletes sailed past the country’s previous four-medal haul in Tokyo, bringing home seven new medals — one gold, five silver and one bronze — and surpassing the expectations that Israeli Olympic officials set earlier this year.
Israel will now have to shell out a total of NIS 5 million — tax-free — to its medalists, plus an additional NIS 2.5 million to the winning coaches. Handing out its highest bonuses to date, and among the highest given in the world, the government will award NIS 1 million to its gold medalist, NIS 700,000 to each silver medalist and NIS 500,000 to its bronze medalist.
Speaking to reporters during a briefing in June, Culture and Sports Minister Miki Zohar said he would love for his biggest budgetary concern to be finding the cash for a large number of Olympic medalists.
“This is the kind of thing I will really look forward to dealing with,” he said at the time. “That’s my aspiration, believe me, to be in the situation where I need to raise the funds. I’ll get them easily. Please create this problem for me.”
Israel headed into Paris with a total of just 13 Olympic medals in history, and left with 20, a massive jump for the nation of just 10 million people.
The crowning achievement in Paris came in the form of sailor Tom Reuveny’s gold medal win in the men’s windsurfing event, prompting “Hatikvah” to ring out on the shores of Marseilles.
Reuveny, 24, was an underdog heading into the competition, without any major international wins to his name, but performed impressively throughout the week of preliminary races and clinched the top spot in the medal race.
“It’s much bigger than me to win this event and it feels amazing,” Reuveny said after the race, noting that his brother was an IDF soldier fighting in the war and “it was so hard to go training while everyone else was crying over lost people, dead people. It’s been so hard and I still had to put my head down and keep training and it’s all for this moment.”
In the women’s windsurfing event, Sharon Kantor, who had been a heavy medal favorite heading into the Games, took home the silver medal, bringing Israel’s total Olympic sailing medals to five.
In judo, Israel’s most decorated sport, three athletes left with medals: Raz Hershko won silver in the women’s over-78kg weight class, Inbar Lanir also won silver in the women’s under-78kg class, and Peter Paltchik took home the bronze in the men’s under-100kg class. Nine of Israel’s overall 20 Olympic medals are now in judo.
And in gymnastics, the Israelis lived up to the high expectations ahead of the games, winning two silver medals — one for Artem Dolgopyat, in the men’s artistic gymnastics floor routine, and one for the five-woman rhythmic gymnastics team in the all-around event.
The win made Dolgopyat — who also won a gold in Tokyo in the same event — Israel’s most decorated Olympian.
Throughout the Games, anti-Israel sentiment appeared to be lower than expected, with a smattering of protest signs at soccer matches, a handful of Palestinian flags waving as Israeli athletes competed, and occasional booing. Algerian judoka Messaoud Redouane Dris showed up overweight to his weigh-in, forfeiting his match against Israeli Tohar Butbul, in what was widely seen as a political move — and is being probed by the International Judo Federation.
And while Israel’s athletes were told to brace themselves for a hostile reception, they mostly experienced loud and proud Israeli cheers from the stands, with blue-and-white flags waving at almost every site they were competing.
Israeli equestrian Ashlee Bond told AFP that “we have so much support, which is shocking to me because we were obviously prepared for people to not be supportive… the fact that we had so much support brought tears to my eyes.”
The biggest controversies at the Games ultimately had nothing to do with Israeli participation, but swirled around a gender dispute in boxing, concerns about pollution in the Seine River, and a US gymnast ordered to return her bronze medal amid a back-and-forth over scoring.
Off the podium, many Israeli athletes made strides and set records even if they left without a medal around their necks.
Runner Lonah Chemtai Salpeter finished in ninth place in the women’s marathon on Sunday, the top finish for Israel in any Olympic marathon.
The race was a redemption of sorts for Salpeter, 35, a native of Kenya who became an Israeli citizen in 2016. At the Rio Olympics, the runner failed to finish the race due to pains caused by excess breast milk, while in Tokyo she paused due to menstrual cramp pain, ultimately finished in 66th.
“I came here without any expectations, and then in the middle my leg started to hurt, but I didn’t give up,” Salpeter told Israel’s Sport 5 broadcaster shortly after the race. “I said I’ll keep going no matter what will come, but I’m happy that I finished.”
Hoisting an Israeli flag above her head, Salpeter said, “I represent my country, I fight today for my country.” The runner said she has no intention of stopping, saying in response to a question about the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics: “I’ll be there.”
Cyclist Mikhail Yakovlev — a recent immigrant to Israel from Russia — showed promise early on in the men’s sprint and keirin events, but ultimately didn’t advance to either final.
For less than a minute, Yakovlev, 23, held a new Olympic record in the sprint during the qualifying race, before it was surpassed by two other racers.
Israel’s equestrian jumping team finished in 9th place in the final, after in Tokyo — the team’s Olympic debut — it failed to advance to the final.
The artistic swimming duo made up of Shelly Bobritsky and Ariel Nassee finished 11th overall in the duet, the best Olympic finish for Israel in the event in six appearances at the Games.
Some achievements occurred even before the Games began — Israel qualified a soccer team for the Olympics for the first time since 1976, although the team had a disappointing run with two losses and one tie, failing to advance out of the group stage.
Israel also sent its largest ever swimming delegation — 18 athletes — to the Games, though it qualified for only one final, the men’s 4×200 m freestyle relay, setting a new Israeli record. In the men’s 100m breaststroke, Ron Polonsky also set a new Israeli record, breaking the old one — set by himself.
The swimming delegation also experienced some internal controversy after star athlete Anastasia Gorbenko, who was the first reserve swimmer for the 200m individual medley final, was not in the arena when she was informed 30 minutes before the race that a finalist had dropped out — thereby missing her chance to swim in the final, something she blamed on her handlers.
Israel also sent its largest judo delegation to Paris — 12 athletes in all — qualifying a judoka in every single female weight class, a feat matched only by Japan and Italy.
And Israel’s achievements in Paris are not over yet. The 2024 Paralympics kick off on August 28, with Israel sending 28 athletes to those Games, including returning gold medal swimmers Iyad Shalabi, Mark Malyar and Ami Omer Dadaon, as well as silver medalist rower Moran Samuel. Stay tuned for further coverage.
