Israel’s Daria Atamanov secures spot in Olympic rhythmic gymnastics final
Gymnast finishes 7th overall after routines in ball, hoop, ribbon and clubs: ‘I hope to do much better tomorrow’; Israel’s sailing delegation wraps up its Olympic events
Amy Spiro is a reporter and writer with The Times of Israel
Israeli rhythmic gymnast Daria Atamanov advanced Thursday to the final of the women’s individual all-around competition at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Atamanov, 18, finished the qualifier in 7th place with an overall combined score of 130.450 points following her four routines in ball, hoop, ribbon and clubs. The gymnast performed her ribbon routine to Gad Elbaz’s “Shir Lamaalot.”
Only the top 10 athletes out of the 24 who competed on Thursday advanced to Friday’s final — where the qualifying scores are wiped clean and each gymnast starts fresh in the four events.
“I’m really moved, all day my emotions have been all over the place,” Atamanov told Israel’s Sports5 broadcaster after her qualification. “I tried to give my maximum in every routine.” Now, she said, “I’m focused on tomorrow and I hope to do much better than today.”
Atamanov won a gold and silver medal at the 2022 World Games, but a few months later suffered an injury that sidelined her from competing for 10 months. At the Rhythmic Gymnastics World Championships last year, she won a bronze in the all-around competition.
At the Tokyo Olympics, Linoy Ashram won the gold medal for Israel in the women’s all-around, the first-ever medal for the Jewish state in rhythmic gymnastics. Ashram, who has since retired from competing, is now a member of Atamanov’s coaching team.
Also Thursday, the rest of Israel’s sailing delegation wrapped up its events at the Paris Games.
Sailing duo Nitai Hasson and Noa Lasry finished 7th overall in the mixed dinghy event, following their 5th place finish in the medal race, which was delayed from Wednesday due to low winds.
And kitesurfer Gal Zukerman came third in her semifinal heat in the women’s Formula Kite race, failing to clinch a spot in the final.
On Friday, Israeli swimmer Matan Roditi will dive into Paris’s Seine River — pollution levels permitting — for the men’s 10km open-water marathon swim. In Tokyo, Roditi came in a surprise 4th place in the race, just missing out on the podium.
And in addition to Atamanov’s appearance in the final, Israel’s five-woman rhythmic gymnastics team will compete in the group qualification event, aiming for one of eight spots in Saturday’s final.
On Friday night, Israel’s artistic swimming duo (previously known as synchronized swimming) will perform their technical routine, which will be combined with the results of Saturday’s free routine to determine the final results.
So far, Israel has won six medals at the 2024 Paris Olympics, a new record for the Jewish state: bronze for judoka Peter Paltchik, silver for judoka Inbar Lanir, silver for judoka Raz Hershko, silver for gymnast Artem Dolgopyat, silver for windsurfer Sharon Kantor and gold for windsurfer Tom Reuveny.
In its history at the Games, Israel has nabbed 19 medals overall, with nine of them in judo and five in sailing.
