Israeli artistic swimming duo finish in 11th place at Paris Olympics duet event
Amy Spiro is a reporter and writer with The Times of Israel
Israeli artistic swimming duo Shelly Bobritsky and Ariel Nassee finish 11th overall out of 17 competing teams in the duet event at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
The result marks Israel’s best-ever finish in the sport, after sending delegations to every Olympics since 2004.
Bobrtisky tells Israel’s Sport5 broadcaster that they are disappointed with the results, but proud of their performance.
“We always give our whole heart and soul in the routine, and when we don’t get what we wanted and hoped for so much, it hurts our heart,” she says. “But I know that we really gave it our all… for the country, for the people, and we are really proud of ourselves… we’re glad that we had the privilege to make the voice of the beautiful and strong Israeli nation heard.”
Tonight’s free routine was “Charlie Chaplin” themed, with the music including snippets from the famed “final speech” from “The Great Dictator” film: “We think too much and feel too little. More than machinery, we need humanity; more than cleverness, we need kindness and gentleness.”
In yesterday’s technical routine, the duo swam wearing yellow ribbons on their hair as a nod to the hostages being held in Gaza, and the music was a mashup titled “Shalom Aleichem/October 7th/Hai.”
