Judo Olympic medalists return home: ‘Our goal was to raise the flag of Israel high’
Raz Hershko, Peter Paltchik and Inbar Lanir greeted as heroes at Ben Gurion Airport, say they were honored to represent Israel in such challenging times
Amy Spiro is a reporter and writer with The Times of Israel
Israel’s three fresh Olympic medalists in judo returned home to Israel on Sunday evening, dedicating their medals to a nation at war and celebrating their achievements in the face of calls for them to be banned from the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Judokas Raz Hershko, who won silver, Inbar Lanir, who also won silver, and Peter Paltchik, who took home bronze, landed at Ben Gurion Airport with the rest of the judo delegation, as well as Israel’s swimmers, after wrapping up their Olympic appearances. They were greeted by cheers, flowers, balloons and emotional relatives and friends.
So far during the Paris Games, Israel has won six medals overall — already surpassing its previous high of four at the Tokyo Olympics. After the three judo medals last week, Israel picked up a gold medal in windsurfing by Tom Reuveny, a silver in the same sport from Sharon Kantor and a silver from returning medalist gymnast Artem Dolgopyat on Saturday.
“The fact that I have an Olympic medal and it’s mine is just crazy,” said Hershko, 26, during a press conference at the airport after landing. “It’s something I dreamed of for so many years, and it wasn’t always easy.”
Hershko, who took home silver in the women’s over-78kg weight class, noted that there are “so many people who have been a part of this that the medal isn’t really just mine — it’s really all of ours, of yours, of our country’s, our people, our flag,” she said.
“This country went through really difficult times since October 7, and this is my way to come and show everyone what kind of nation we are… show everyone that am Yisrael chai (the nation of Israel lives) — this is our strength and we will not fall,” she said.
זוכת מדליית הכסף ענבר לניר: "לייצג את המדינה בימים האלה זו זכות גדולה. לא דמיינתי את זה ככה כשהייתי בת שש והתחלתי להתאמן בג'ודו. אני לא מאמינה שאני נמצאת בסיטואציה הזאת"@Nov_reuveny pic.twitter.com/WSDCbX2KqZ
— כאן חדשות (@kann_news) August 4, 2024
Paltchik, 32, said that he and the others in the Israeli delegation arrived at the Olympic Village “with a sense of mission. We knew that these Olympic games were unique in this aspect, because we went through the biggest tragedy Israel has ever known” on October 7.
The judoka, who won the bronze in the men’s under-100kg class, said that the athletes “felt an incredible responsibility in every match and every step… our mission and our goal was to raise the flag of Israel as high as possible, in the face of everyone who wanted to boycott us.”
Paltchik noted the personal difficulties he faced ahead of the games, including online death threats and attempts to have him personally banned from taking part.
“I had a very difficult period the months before the Olympics personally, threats via email, on social media, seemingly Iranian bot networks attacking, invasions of my privacy,” he said. “They took a post I wrote from the start of the war, [sharing an image of Israeli bombs signed with Hebrew messages, writing “from me to you with pleasure,”] and tried through this to ban me from the Olympic games.”
His winning a medal, and all the Israeli medals so far, are “the biggest victory of the State of Israel,” Paltchik said. “That on the biggest stage in the world, in front of billions watching around the world, the flag of Israel was flown.”
Lanir, 24, who clinched the silver in the women’s under-78kg weight class, noted that she had been practicing judo for the past 18 years.
“I think that to represent Israel during this period is an incredible mission, and it’s not something I thought about when I started taking judo lessons at age 6,” said Lanir. “Eighteen years later, to sit with an Olympic medal around my neck… I can’t even believe I’m in this situation.”
Asked about her next steps, Lanir said that firstly she was planning to rest and recover “both physically and mentally” before making any moves, but vowed that “you haven’t seen the last of me.”
Hershko, Lanir and Paltchik were all part of the team who won the bronze medal for Israel in the mixed team judo event at the Tokyo Olympics.
With all of Israel’s judo events completed and almost all of its swimming competitions also wrapped up, Israeli athletes had a quieter day at the Olympics on Sunday.
Israeli cyclist Rotem Gafinovitz finished the women’s road race at the 2024 Paris Olympics in 77th place out of 93 riders, with a time of 4:13:42 on the grueling 158km course.
Meanwhile a number of Israeli sailors took to the water in Marseilles aiming to qualify for medal races later in the week.
Israeli kitesurfers Dor Zarka and Gal Zukerman completed their first four races each out of 16 expected before the semifinals and final. In the women’s Formula Kite event, Zukerman stood in 11th position at the end of the day, while on the men’s side, Zarka was ranked in 10th position following his races.
In the mixed dinghy sailing event, Israeli duo Nitai Hasson and Noa Lasry were sitting in a solid 6th position following their 5th and 6th races out of 10 overall.
And after races 7 and 8 in the men’s dinghy event, Omer Vered Vilenchik is ranked in 30th place overall out of 40 competitors, while in the women’s dinghy, Shay Kakon is ranked in 24th place overall. Races 9 and 10 — the final preliminary races — are slated for tomorrow. In all of the sailing events, only the top 10 ranked boats advance to the medal races following the preliminary rounds.
On Monday, Zarka, Zuckerman, Hasson, Lasry, Vered Vilenchik and Kakon are expected to continue sailing, while Israel’s equestrians will compete in the individual jumping qualifier, and sprinter Blessing Afrifah will race in round 1 of the men’s 200m dash.
