Herzog phones Olympic medal winners: You brought ‘a great light’ to a nation at war
Amy Spiro is a reporter and writer with The Times of Israel
President Isaac Herzog calls all three Israeli Olympic medal winners today to congratulate them on their accomplishments.
Waiting until after Shabbat ended, Herzog first speaks with Tom Reuveny, who won gold in the men’s windsurfing event, lauding him for “an amazing achievement.” He tells Reueveny that “you made an entire nation happy, a nation that is at war and that is praying for the return of its hostages… you brought us a great light… you caused our national anthem to be played at this Olympics in Paris.”
Reuveny replies to the president that such a goal was “the most important to me, that was what I was thinking before I sailed — I feel like it’s so much bigger than me.”
Herzog then calls Sharon Kantor, who won silver in the women’s windsurfing, telling her that she “made history! [Israel’s] first woman to win a sailing medal… thank you on behalf of an entire nation who was so excited.”
The president then speaks to Artem Dolgopyat, who won a silver medal in the men’s gymnastics floor exercise — after winning gold in Tokyo: “You’re such a panther, I watched you and I was so impressed, you’re like a flying lion,” says Herzog. “I salute you, and I think I speak for the entire Israeli public who salute you.”
Herzog also spoke earlier in the week with Israel’s three other medalists so far — judokas Inbar Lanir, Peter Paltchik and Raz Hershko. Israel has now won six medals at the 2024 Paris Games so far — already surpassing the four medals it won in Tokyo, which was its best-ever performance until now.
