Historic day at Olympics: Israel wins gold, 2 silvers in windsurfing and gymnastics
Windsurfers Tom Reuveny and Sharon Kantor land gold and silver, artistic gymnast Artem Dolgopyat scores silver, as country sets new record with 6 medals at Games – and 3 in a single day
Israel’s Tom Reuveny won a sensational Olympic gold in the men’s iQFoil windsurfing final in Marseille on Saturday, while Sharon Kantor took silver in the women’s.
And artistic gymnast Artem Dolgopyat left behind a surprisingly subpar performance in the qualifying round to take second place in the finals, with his floor exercise scoring 14.966, just behind gold medalist Carlos Yulo of the Philippines at 15.000.
The three athletes’ medals sealed a new record for Israel with its fourth, fifth and sixth medals of the Paris Games in a single day, taking the country past its four medals at the Tokyo Games in 2021.
It was also the first time Israel has ever won three medals in a single day at the Games.
Reuveny’s win was a particular shock, as he had previously not even been expected to make it to the semifinals.
Israel’s two windsurfing medals were its first Olympic windsurfing medals since the Beijing Games in 2008. They were the first Olympic medals for Reuveny and Kantor.
Reuveny’s gold is Israel’s fourth ever, and first in the Paris games. It comes 20 years after his coach, Gal Fridman, won Israel’s first-ever gold medal at the 2004 Athens Olympics.
Kantor is the first female surfer to win an Olympic medal for Israel; her coach, Shahar Zuberi, won a bronze in Beijing.
Dolgopyat won the gold at the Tokyo Olympics, making him the first Israeli athlete to ever win medals at consecutive games.
With Saturday’s three medals, Israel’s total across all Olympic games stands at 19.
Dolgopyat said at a press conference after his win: “I had difficult months in training and in the qualifying round I didn’t do so well and didn’t know if I’d pass. I fell into a sort of depression. The team helped me and picked me up… I came today feeling very good… Now I’m the happiest I could be.”
“Look how many medals we’ve won!” said Kantor after nabbing the silver. “First in judo and now here. It’s incredible.”
תום ראובני אלוף אולימפי! ????
רגע הזכיה של מדליסט הזהב בשיט pic.twitter.com/yMNG9oJDEq— Shem Tov Heavy (@ShemTovHeavy) August 3, 2024
“I did it for our brave soldiers,” Reuveny told Channel 12 after taking the gold.
Sailing is Israel’s second-most decorated sport, following judo, with five medals overall won out on the water. Israel’s judo delegation won three medals in the Paris Games, with nine of the country’s 19 total medals earned in the martial art.
In the men’s contest, Reuveny beat Australia’s Grae Morris, who won silver, and Luuc van Opzeeland of the Netherlands, who landed bronze. Kantor finished six seconds behind Italy’s Marta Maggetti, while Britain’s Emma Wilson landed the bronze.
Reuveny, 24, of Rosh Ha’ayin, was born to a British mother and Israeli father. He began sailing at age eight.
He previously took fourth place in the 2022 iQFoil World Championships and before that won gold and bronze medals at the RSX Youth World Championships in 2017 and 2016, respectively. He took the bronze at the 2023 World Cup, and finished eighth in this year’s World Championships, making him the highest-qualifying Israeli surfer.
“I think I was the dark horse and nobody expected [me to win],” Reuveny told Channel 12. “In the semifinal, I was afraid to finish fourth or fifth, and that’s happened to me in the past, but I gave it my all and did everything.”
Kantor, 21, of Moshav Avihayil, near Netanya, was born to immigrant parents from Australia and South Africa, and began surfing at age 10. In February, she won a gold medal at the iQFoil World Championships, after a year earlier winning silver at the European Windsurfing Championships.
In iQFoil windsurfing, the sailors fly off the water at high speed, the boards lifted by a foil.
Olympic sailing regattas in Marseille started on Sunday. They have been plagued by high heat and fickle winds, which forced the first medal races in the men’s and women’s skiffs to be postponed to Friday.
The windsurfing quarterfinals, semifinals and medal races were all pushed to Saturday. Each race only lasts about 10 minutes or less, with athletes pushing speeds well above 20 knots (37 kph or 23 mph).
Gymnast Dolgopyat finished second in the final of the men’s floor exercise in artistic gymnastics, winning silver and picking up Israel’s third Olympic medal of the day.
Dolgopyat, 27, won gold at the last Olympics, in Tokyo, making him the first Israeli athlete to win medals at consecutive games. He was a heavy favorite for a medal ahead of the Paris games.
He has won multiple gold and silver medals at world and European championships. Last year he gave Israel its first-ever world gymnastics gold medal after winning the men’s floor final in Antwerp, Belgium. That contest took place on October 7, just as the harrowing Hamas attacks unfolded.
He was born in Ukraine and immigrated in 2009 at the age of 12, when he was already a contest-winning gymnast.
President Isaac Herzog called all three medal winners to congratulate them on their accomplishments.
Waiting until after Shabbat ended, Herzog first spoke with Reuveny, lauding him for “an amazing achievement.” He told Reueveny: “You made an entire nation happy, a nation that is at war and that is praying for the return of its hostages… you brought us a great light… you caused our national anthem to be played at this Olympics in Paris.”
Reuveny replied to the president that such a goal was “the most important to me, that was what I was thinking before I sailed — I feel like it’s so much bigger than me.”
Herzog told Kantor she “made history” as Israel’s first woman to win a sailing medal. “Thank you on behalf of an entire nation that was so moved.”
He told Dolgopyat: “You’re such a panther, I watched you and I was so impressed, you’re like a flying lion. I salute you, and I think I speak for the entire Israeli public who salute you.”
Earlier on Saturday, Team Israel in judo was knocked out of medal contention in the round of 16 of the mixed team contest, losing 0-4 to France. The team started out the day by beating Mongolia’s team in the first round 4-3. Israel won a bronze in the mixed team event in Tokyo.
Elsewhere in sailing, Israel’s mixed dinghy team of Nitai Hasson and Noa Lasry is ranked 11th following four races, while Shay Kakon is ranked 26th following six races in the women’s event, and Omer Vered Vilenchik is ranked 31st after six races in the men’s event.
Israeli cyclist Itamar Einhorn, meanwhile, finished 62nd out of 90 racers in the men’s road race. The women’s road race, with Israeli Rotem Gafinovitz, is scheduled for Sunday.
Amy Spiro contributed to this report.
