Israeli judokas Inbar Lanir, Peter Paltchik win silver, bronze medals at Paris Games

Israeli judokas Inbar Lanir and Peter Paltchik won silver and bronze medals, respectively, at the 2024 Paris Olympics on Thursday, the country’s first medals of the 2024 Games.

Lanir, 24, took home the silver after losing to Italy’s Alice Bellandi in the final match of the women’s under-78kg weight class.

Earlier, she beat Mongolia’s Otgonbayaryn Khüslen in the round of 16, then took down the Netherlands’ Guusje Steenhuis in the round of 16 with an ippon in just 23 seconds, before defeating Germany’s Anna-Maria Wagner in the semifinal match.

Her win marks the second-ever Olympic silver for Israel, its eighth in judo and the 15th overall Olympic medal for the Jewish state.

Minutes after winning the silver, Lanir told Israel’s Sport5 broadcaster: “I’m so, so happy right now.”

“It’s a bit hard to be happy after losing in the final because I always want to beat everyone, but I’m really happy,” she said. “The fact that I have the privilege to give a little happy news during this time is worth everything to me.”

Asked about wearing a bright yellow scrunchie in her hair — the color of pins calling for the return of the hostages held in Gaza — Lanir said “of course” it had meaning: “Those who understand it, will understand.”

The judoka said that “since the start of the war, my stomach has been in knots. I knew that the one thing I could do is keep training and doing what I’m best at because I have the privilege to represent the country and to raise the flag around the world — and that gave me huge motivation.”

Her yellow hair scrunchie, Lanir said, “is to show that I’m thinking about them today too,” apparently referencing hostages held in Gaza.

Paltchik, meanwhile, won the bronze medal after defeating Switzerland’s Daniel Eich in the men’s under-100kg weight class.

Earlier, Paltchik, 32, beat Mongolia’s Batkhuyagiin Gonchigsüren in his initial match, and then won against France’s Aurélien Diesse in the round of 16 before losing to Azerbaijan’s Zelym Kotsoiev — who went on to win the gold — in the quarterfinal, sending him to the repechage round where he defeated the Netherlands’ Michael Korrel.

Minutes after winning the bronze, an emotional Paltchik told Sport5 that “I can’t explain in words what I’m going through.”

“The period we’re going through in the country — the war, the wounds, the people who we won’t see again — I just wanted to make everyone happy,” said Paltchik, sending thanks to his family, “who sacrifice so much,” mentioning his wife, their twin sons and a daughter who is on the way.

“I fought for everyone, for our flag, we worked so hard for this moment,” added Paltchik, also referencing his coach, Oren Smadga, who made the decision to take part in the Olympics just a few weeks after his son, Sgt. First Class (res.) Omer Smadga, was killed fighting in Gaza.

“Oren, after what he went through, I couldn’t give up for even one moment,” said Paltchik.

Smadga said Paltchik is “a lion, what a huge heart.”

The coach said he came to the Paris Olympics “with a whole host of emotions. It was very difficult for me to come here,” less than six weeks after burying his son.

“It’s a happy moment,” said Smadga, but comes amid “the personal mourning for my son, Omer, [and for] the country that went through trauma.”

“This is the best public relations we have, [to show that] we are loving, we’re respectful, we know how to appreciate” Olympic values and spirit, added Smadga.

Smadga spoke later with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who told the coach how incredible it was to see “that you, from the depth of your pain, succeeded in bringing this blessing to the State of Israel.”

President Isaac Herzog also called both Paltchik and Lanir to express his congratulations and to thank them for representing Israel with pride on the world stage.

Elsewhere on the sixth day of competitions at the Paris Games, Israeli windsurfers Sharon Kantor and Tom Reuveny both secured places in Friday’s semifinals, giving them each a solid shot at the podium, following another day plagued by delays and weather problems.

Kantor finished in second overall after 14 races in the women’s iQFoil, while Reuveny was also ranked in the 2nd spot after 13 races in the men’s event.

In their separate semifinals on Friday, Kantor and Reuveny will each battle against three other qualifiers for the two remaining spots in the final — after the top ranked sailors went straight to the final. Qualifying for the final guarantees the athletes a medal.

And after the first day of the dinghy events in sailing, Shay Kakon was ranked 22nd after her first race, and Omer Vered Vilenchik was ranked 22nd overall after finishing 38th in his first race and 3rd in his second race. The sailors are slated to complete 10 races overall before next week’s medal races.

Israeli swimmers marked achievements when they qualified for three semifinals in separate races on Thursday, but failed to further advance to any finals.

Anastasia Gorbenko qualified for the semifinal in the women’s 200m backstroke, then finished 16th (last) and did not continue to the final. Ron Polonsky moved ahead to the semifinal in the men’s 200m individual medley, ultimately finishing 12th and not advancing to the final, and Meiron Cheruti made it to the semifinal in the men’s 50m freestyle, where he finished 13th.

Cheruti told Sport5 that he felt a “small sense of disappointment” over not qualifying for the final, but “I’m happy I made it to the semifinal,” and stood up under the immense pressure of racing at the Olympics. Now, he said, “he’s looking ahead to [the 2028 Games in] Los Angeles.”

Separately, Israel’s swimming team in the women’s 4x200m freestyle relay finished 11th in the heats with a time of 7:55.99 and did not advance to the final.

Israeli archer Roy Dror, 19, lost 6-2 to the Netherlands’ Steve Wijler in his first round in the men’s individual competition, ending his Olympic bid. And surfer Anat Lelior lost in her heat in round 3 to Australia’s Tyler Wright, ending her Olympic run.

Meanwhile, Israel’s equestrian team — made up of Ashlee Bond, Daniel Bluman and Robin Muhr — finished 9th overall in the team jumping qualification on Thursday, advancing to Friday’s final.

Bluman, riding Ladriano, completed a perfect run with 0 penalty points, Bond, atop Donatello, was close to perfect with 4 points and Muhr, riding Galaxy, got 16 points.

“We made it to the second round in the Olympics and I couldn’t be more proud and honored to do that for Israel with my teammates Daniel, Robin,” Bond said in a video message posted on Instagram. “We will bring it tomorrow!”

The three riders will also compete in the individual jumping competition next week.

In Tokyo — where Israel had its equestrian debut — the team was eliminated in the jumping qualifying round after one its riders fell from their horse. In the individual round, Bond was the only Israeli to advance to the final, ending up in 11th overall.

On Friday, all eyes will be on several events where Israel is predicted to be in strong medal contention, including medal races for Kantor and Reuveny at the marina in Marseilles, which has continually been plagued by delays and cancellations due to low winds.

In judo, Raz Hershko — ranked second in the world — will compete in the women’s over-78kg weight class. Due to her rank she advances straight to the round of 16, where she will face either the Netherlands’ Marit Kamps or Ukraine’s Khrystyna Homan.

Vilenchik and Kakon will continue races in the men’s and women’s dinghy events, respectively, hoping to qualify for next week’s medal races.