Olympic hopes sink with Israeli swimmers
Amit Ivry and Yakov Toumarkin don’t make cut for the next round in their events, as Israeli athletes fail to shine in Rio
Two Israelis swimmers failed Sunday to qualify for the next round at the Rio Olympics, as athletes from the Jewish state continued to let down fans at home.
Amit Ivry swam the women’s 100-meter breaststroke in 1:09, falling short of the top 16 and missing her chance to move on to the semifinals.
A short while later, Yakov Toumarkin, swimming in the seventh lane, raced to a 54.66 seconds finish in the 100-meter backstroke, which was not enough to push him into the next round.
The 7th-place swim continued a streak of losses for Israelis in the games thus far.
Earlier in the day, two Israeli judokas were knocked out of the running.
In a massive upset the 118th ranked Zambian fighter Mathews Punza defeated Israeli judoka Golan Pollack, ranked seventh and considered a serious medal contender.
Pollack won a bronze at last year’s World Championships but struggled to defend against Punza’s attacks during their first round match. Although Punza prefers classic-style judo that involves throwing an opponent from an upright position, he won using the groundwork component of judo, by pinning Pollack to the ground for 20 seconds, which automatically ends in victory.
Less than an hour later, judoka Gili Cohen lost to Christianne Legentil of Mauritius in the Women’s 52kg tournament, failing to score a point in the round of 16 match-up.
On Saturday, Israeli judoka Shira Rishoni was disqualified from the Olympic Games in Rio on a technical foul during her first battle.
Israeli judo team members Sagi Muki, Or Sasson, Yarden Gerbi, and Linda Bolder are still in the running.
Israeli hopes of Olympic glory could be revitalized on Monday with blue-and-white competitors in men’s air rifle, men’s 73kg judo, women’s 200-meter freestyle, and men’s 200-meter butterfly.
Agencies contributed to this report.
The Times of Israel Community.