Yakov Toumarkin competes in a Men's 200m Backstroke heat during the swimming event at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games at the Olympic Aquatics Stadium in Rio de Janeiro on August 10, 2016. AFP/ Odd Andersen)
Israeli swimmer Yakov Toumarkin failed to advance past the semifinals of the men’s 200m backstroke Wednesday evening, after barely squeaking into the second round of the competition.
Toumarking finished 15th out of 16, with a final time of 1.58.63, over two seconds slower than the last qualifier for the final.
He had clinched the last spot in the finals earlier in the day with a time of 1.57.58, just .03 seconds faster than the swimmer in 17th place.
Before the semifinal, the swimmer said he was not satisfied with his result, but was happy to reach the penultimate round. He said he believed he had a shot at reaching the finals.
Yakov Toumarkin competes in a Men’s 200m backstroke heat at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro on August 10, 2016. (AFP/Odd Andersen)
The loss was the latest in a series of diasappointments for the Israeli delegation at the summer Games in Rio so far, with the lone bright spot a bronze medal win by female judoka Yarden Gerbi Tuesday.
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Earlier in the day in the pool, Gal Nevo narrowly missed reaching the semifinals for the 200m individual medley. He too was only .03 seconds behind No. 16, at 119.80.
In the women’s competitions, Amit Ivry failed to make it to the semifinals in the 200m breaststroke, finishing 28th at 151.49 seconds.
Israel’s Yarden Gerbi celebrates after winning third place in the women’s -63kg judo contest at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro on August 9, 2016. (AFP PHOTO / Toshifumi KITAMURA)
Andrea Murez also missed out on the semifinals in the women’s 100m freestyle, finishing 30th at 55.47 seconds.
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Toumarkin and Ivry had lost previous rounds on Sunday, the former failing to advance in the 100m backstroke, and the latter falling short in the 100m breaststroke.
Gerbi remains Israel’s only medalist in the games so far, after winning the bronze in Tuesday’s under-63 kg matches.
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