Judo, soccer, swimming and more: Results from Israel’s first full day at the Olympics
Ron Polonsky sets new Israeli record in men’s 100m breaststroke; Israel’s soccer team loses 2-4 to Paraguay; Gymnast Artem Dolgopyat has shaky start but qualifies for finals
Amy Spiro is a reporter and writer with The Times of Israel
The first full day of sports got underway at the 2024 Olympics in Paris on Saturday, with a new Israeli swimming record, two judo disappointments and a loss in soccer.
Israeli swimmer Ron Polonsky set a new Israeli record of 1m:00s:00 in the men’s 100m breaststroke during the heats, advancing to the semifinal. However, there he finished last out of the 16 swimmers and didn’t advance to the final.
Polonsky — whose sister Leah is also swimming for Israel in Paris — will compete in the 200m individual medley and the mixed 4×100m medley relay later this week.
In the 4×100m freestyle relay, the Israeli men’s team — Tomer Frankel, Gal Cohen Groumi, Denis Loktev, Alexey Glivinskiy — finished in 14th place overall and did not advance to the final.
The Israeli national soccer team lost 2-4 to Paraguay in its second match in the group stage of the competition. Omri Gandelman and Oscar Gloukh scored the two goals for Israel.
At one point during the match, protesters in the stands unveiled a banner reading “Genocide Olympics,” while others waved Palestinian flags.
Israel’s first game against Mali earlier this week ended in a 1-1 tie. The team will face Japan on Tuesday evening in its final game of the qualifier round, which will determine if it advances to the knockout stage of the competition.
If the team advances, it could potentially face Iraq, Morocco or Egypt in a future game. The head of Iraq’s delegation submitted a request to Olympic officials to not have the Iraqi and Israeli flags flying next to each other outside the Lyon Stadium, but the wish was denied on Saturday, with Olympic authorities saying the flags must be displayed in alphabetical order.
Meanwhile, despite a surprisingly shaky qualifying round, Israeli gymnast Artem Dolgopyat — a heavy medal favorite — squeaked through to the finals in the men’s floor exercise in artistic gymnastics, with a score placing him 7th out of the 8 qualifiers.
Dolgopyat — who won a gold medal for Israel at the Tokyo Olympics — qualified with 14.466 points after a couple of stumbles and a small hop following one of his landings. He is slated to compete in the finals next Saturday to defend his title.
In judo, Shira Rishony was knocked out in the round of 32 when she lost to Abiba Abuzhakynova of Kazakhstan. Judoka Yam Wolczak beat the Congo’s Arnold Kisoka in his first round, before losing to Georgia’s Giorgi Sardalashvili in the round of 16.
Badminton player Misha Zilberman, at his fourth Olympics, lost a match against Ireland’s Nhat Nguyen 17-21, won the next one 21-19 and then lost the decider 13-21. On Monday he’ll play Denmark’s Viktor Axelsen and later he’ll face off against Nepal’s Prince Dahal (his first name is Prince, he’s not royalty).
On Sunday, judoka Gefen Primo — a solid contender in the women’s under-52kg weight class — will vie for a medal, as will Baruch Shmailov, who competes in the under-66kg class. Fencer Yuval Freilich will spend the day lunging and parrying against his opponents in an attempt to make it to the medal podium.
Sharon Kantor — a heavy medal favorite — and Tom Reuveny will both compete in early rounds of the iQFoil windsurfing competition. Artistic gymnast Lihie Raz will compete in a qualifying round, hoping to advance to the finals, while shooter Sergey Richter — at his fourth Olympics — will take aim at making the final.
Swimmer Denis Loktev will compete in the 200m freestyle, Adam Maraana in the 100m backstroke, Leah Polonsky in the 200m freestyle and Anastasia Gorbenko — the strongest member of Israel’s swimming team — will take to the pool in the 100m breaststroke.
Surfer Anat Lelior — who is competing in Tahiti, French Polynesia, thousands of miles away from Paris — will have her first heats on Saturday and Sunday.
Agencies contributed to this report.
