Israeli swimmer Dadaon wins bronze in 50m final, his 4th Paris medal

Israeli swimmer Ami Dadaon won the bronze Friday in the 50m final in the S4 disability category at the 2024 Paris Paralympics, with a time of 37.11 seconds.

Though he headed into Paris holding the world record and the Paralympic record in the event, he was edged out by Canada’s Sebastian Massabie, who took gold and smashed both records with a time of 35.61, and Japan’s Suzuki Takayuki, who won silver in 36.85.

Fellow Israeli Paralympic swimmer Ariel Malyar finished seventh in the same race with a time of 40.53.

It was Dadaon’s fourth medal in Paris, bringing Israel’s total to 10. He also won medals in the 150m individual medley, 200m freestyle, and 100m freestyle events.

The 23-year-old — who won three medals at the Tokyo Games — was born with cerebral palsy and started swimming at age six.

Thursday saw Israel win medals in both tennis and goalball.

The women’s goalball team won a silver medal after losing to Turkey in the final match of the tournament, while tennis player Guy Sasson won bronze after besting Turkey’s Ahmet Kaplan.

While tensions between the governments of Turkey and Israel have been high amid the ongoing war in Gaza, the goalball teams greeted each other warmly and Sasson and Kaplan exchanged friendly greetings before and after the match.

The goalball team lost 3-8 to Turkey to take the silver, marking Israel’s first-ever medal in the sport, and its first Paralympic team sport medal since 1988.