Israeli gold medalist says win was possible because of country’s soldiers
Returning home, Tom Reuveny says those protecting Jewish state are reason ‘I’m even standing here’; Israeli Olympic chief Yael Arad: Delegation’s success is due to ‘Israeli spirit’
Amy Spiro is a reporter and writer with The Times of Israel
Israeli Olympic windsurfer Tom Reuveny said that the gold medal around his neck is thanks to the soldiers fighting to protect the State of Israel.
Speaking at a press conference after arriving at Ben Gurion Airport on Monday evening, Reuveny, 24, said that the ongoing war at home was on his mind during his triumphant moment in Paris a little more than a week ago.
“I really remember myself, just before the deciding final race, I thought about the whole State of Israel, I knew that the gold would not just be for me,” he said. “There are so many soldiers who have been called together to protect us, and thanks to them I am here right now.”
The medalist added that “I want to offer a warm embrace to the families of the fallen [soldiers], that also thanks to them I’m even standing here and thanks to them we were even able to go to this Olympics.”
Reuveny, who won a gold Olympic medal at the men’s windsurfing iQFoil event last Saturday, also mentioned the fact that he had entered the race as an underdog, without any expectation he would emerge the champion.
“I know I surprised all of you that I’m standing here, nobody really expected this — and to be honest I didn’t really expect to be here either,” he said.
But while he said he appreciated the love and attention, Reuveny paid tribute to the many other Israeli athletes who gave their all at the Games, and fell short of the podium.
“There are 88 athletes, who didn’t all get medals but they all worked so, so, so hard to get to the Olympics and to give everything in this huge and important competition,” he said.
“Maybe they don’t all get the attention that I am getting,” said Reuveny, asking the public to “give them a warm embrace — they worked so hard and they deserve so much.”
While most of Israel’s athletes have already returned home over the past week following their events, the rest of the delegation arrived back in Israel Monday afternoon following the closing ceremony on Sunday night. Israel wrapped up the games with a record-breaking seven medals, its best Olympic showing, easily surpassing the four it won in Tokyo.
In addition to gold for Reuveny, fellow windsurfer Sharon Kantor won silver in the women’s event, gymnast Artem Dolgopyat won silver in the men’s floor exercise, the rhythmic gymnastics team won silver in the all-around competition, judokas Raz Hershko and Inbar Lanir both won silver in their weight class, while judoka Peter Paltchik clinched a bronze.
Speaking at the same press conference, Romi Paritzki, the captain of the rhythmic gymnastics team, said the group of five women — Shani Bakanov, 18, Adar Friedmann, 18, Ofir Shaham, 19 and Diana Svertsov, 19 — worked incredibly hard under challenging circumstances.
Paritzki, 20, said that the Olympic games were “an unforgettable experience.”
“It was hard, it didn’t come easy, but with hard work comes results,” she said. “We always knew how to support each other no matter what.”
Paritzki said that the team, who were considered medal favorites ahead of the Games, “felt a heavy responsibility on our shoulders.”
In the weeks and months heading up to the Paris Olympics, much of the domestic and international coverage centered on the security challenges facing the Israeli delegation, as well as expected protests and demonstrations against the country’s participation in light of the ongoing Israel-Hamas war.
The competitions, however, proceeded smoothly, with only muted anti-Israel provocations and no serious security threats that interfered with the staging of the Games.
Yael Arad, the president of the Olympic Committee of Israel, said Monday that Israel’s seven-medal haul from Paris surpassed every expectation following “a very difficult year.”
Arad said that when Olympic officials earlier this year “set four-to-five medals as the goal, people raised their eyebrows,” suggesting that the effects of the war had harmed Israel’s ability to train and compete at the highest level.
“As you saw over the past 2.5 weeks, this delegation surpassed our wildest imagination,” said Arad. “The athletes proved that the Israeli spirit is something that cannot be stopped.”
Among her many expressions of gratitude to everyone involved, Arad also specifically thanked all the many Israeli security bodies involved in protecting the athletes and the delegation, who “allowed all of us to do what we came to Paris to do… without them we wouldn’t have been able to.”
