Israeli swimmer Ami Omer Dadaon wins silver at Tokyo Paralympics

Paralympic swimmer Ami Omer Dadaon won Israel’s third medal at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games on Saturday, clinching second place and a silver medal in the men’s 150-meter individual medley.

Dadaon finished the race in the SM4 category in 2 minutes and 29.48 seconds. Russia’s Roman Zhdanov took the gold and Japan’s Takayuki Suzuki took the bronze.

Dadaon, 20, has cerebral palsy. His mother Yafa told Channel 12 news: “Everyone is happy and overjoyed. He is our pride. He believed in himself all along the way and always dreamt of an Olympic medal.”

She noted that Dadaon was set to compete in several more races. “We all hope he comes back with more medals,” she said.

Dadaon won three gold medal in 2021’s European Championships in Portugal, in the 50m, 100m and 200m freestyle races.

Friday saw paralympic swimmer Mark Malyar win a gold medal and break a world record.

Paralympic swimmer Ami Omer Dadaon competes in the men’s 150-meter individual medley final in Tokyo, August 28, 2021. (Lilach Weiss/Israel Paralympic Committee)

Malyar, 21, won the men’s 200-meter individual medley final in the SM7 category after finishing with a time of 2:29.01. Silver was taken by Andrii Trusov of Ukraine, while bronze was snagged by Colombia’s Carlos Serrano Zárate.

It was the second gold medal for Israel in Paralympic swimming in three days, after that had not happened since 2004.

On Wednesday, it was Iyad Shalabi who won the 100-meter backstroke in the S1 category, becoming the first Arab Israel to medal in either the Paralympics or the Olympics.