Swimmer wins Israel’s third London medal

Izhak Mamistvalov became the second Israeli to stand on podium at London, when he won bronze in the 200-meter freestyle swim on Saturday night, narrowly beating another Israeli.

Mamistvalov stopped the clock after 4:58.53 minutes, only a split second ahead of his teammate Joseph Shalabi. Yang Yang of China won the heat with a time of 4:36.18 minutes.

Earlier on Saturday, Inbal Pezaro won her second medal of the games, a bronze in the women’s 200-meter freestyle.

Born in Or Yehuda, Mamistvalov was diagnosed with cerebral palsy at eight-months-old, a non-curable motor condition that left him disabled in all his limbs besides his right arm, with which he swims.

Mamistvalov won three medals at the 2004 games in Athens, where he set world records in the 50-meter and 100-meter heats. He missed the Beijing Games after he lost control of his specially designed car and, after crossing three lanes, killed two people who were standing at a bus station.

At a pre-Olympic competition in April 2012 the 33-year-old swimmer broke his own world record in the 100-meter freestyle, and showed everyone that he was still a force in the pool.