By: Marvin Azrak
Prior to 2020 in Tokyo, when you heard the words “Israel” and “Olympics” in the same sentence, the only glorious event that came to your mind was a 2004 Gold Medal in Sailing by Gal Fridman in addition to just eight other medals the county had won since they first appeared in the games back in 1952. However, these Olympics featured even more moments for Israelites, who watched in awe, as their heroes brought home four medals, two golds, and forming several opportunities in other events for more victories come the 2024 games in Paris. In fact, the four medals were about half of what the delegation had claimed in the last 58 years of play leading up to the 32nd Olympiad. So to say Israel had an historic Olympics is a big understatement. But to truly understand just how astonishing those 18 days have been for Jewish sports fans, we need to dive into what made these athletes become heroes.
Four Medals: 2 Gold, 2 Bronze
Don’t be surprised if you see more Israeli citizens working in the Gymnasium, for the first men’s gymnastics medal in Israeli history went to Artem Dolgopyat who won “Floor Gold ”, by defeating Rayderley Zapata of Spain in the final. Both scored a 14.9333 in their routined, but Artem took home the Gold because his “Difficulty” score was 0.1 better than Zapatas. An unconventional way to win, but nonetheless Israel finally has a Gymnastics Gold around their necks inspiring so many others within the country.
Meanwhile, the number 1 seed Linoy Ashram, was expected to win Gold in Rhythmic Gymnastics, but finished third in qualifying. However, she was nearly perfect in the final to win Gold with a 28.650, smashing the “Execution” part of her routine with a 9.25/10, to win Gold by four points over Dina Averina of the ROC who scored a 24.00.
On the Karate mat, Avishag Semberg shocked everyone with a Bronze medal in the Taekwondo 49K division for Israel on the very first day of the Olympics. Avishag entered this tournament “Unranked” yet still managed to scratch and claw her way through the competition, and into the medal round by defeating Truong Thi- Tuyen of Vietnam 22-1.
The 29-5 loss to eventual champion Panipak Wongpattanakit of Thailand didn’t phase her, for she ultimately took home Israel’s first medal since the 2004 Athens games with a 27-22 victory over Rukiye Yildirim of Turkey to stake her place on the podium.
Although it wasn’t gold, the Israeli Judo team lived up to their expectations by taking home a Bronze in the “Mixed Team event”, with rookies Gil Sharir making, and a Timna-Nelson-Levy both helping bring home what their country expected of them in a medal.
Promise for Paris
Although these athletes didn’t medal, it was still breathtaking to see Israel being represented in the finals in these big nationally televised events, such as Swimming, and Equestrian which could qualify as being optimistic for the upcoming 2024 games.
Roditi Maton was just happy to be in the 10KM Olympic swim final, and so was his country, coaches, and his family. So while it would’ve been just fine if he finished dead last in the eight player field, Rodti raised his level of play, and managed to finish just 23 seconds shy from notching an improbable Bronze medal in the ocean. However, this will be a name everyone will be looking out for in Paris come 2024. Now that Rodti got so close to making the podium when he least expected it, one can only dream of what happens next if he puts the work in over the next three years.
Meanwhile, Israeli swimming in the pool has officially been taken to new heights courtesy of 17-year-old Anastasia Gorbenko, who qualified for two finals(100M relay, & 100M backstroke race) and a semifinals(200M race) in the five events she participated in. She also broke the national record for her country, clocking in at 59.30 seconds in the Women’s 100M backstroke semifinal, to book her spot in the medal round. But the fact she was successful at such a young age should only bode well for the 2024 Olympics in Paris, when she will be not only faster, but stronger and maybe have a realistic chance of a medal.
Although the Equestrian team didn’t medal for Israel,the fact they even qualified for Tokyo was a victory in itself. Shoutout to Ashlee Bond for making the most of her opportunity by qualifying for the finals.
Israel Baseball Recap
To fully comprehend just how impressive this run was, we must take a trip back to the 2017 World Baseball classic qualifying round as before that took place, Israel was the 41st-ranked national baseball team in the world (and ranked 16th in Europe). Israel’s odds to win the WBC were 200-1, before the tournament took place, and were ranked “Dead last” in the qualifying round power rankings by many experts. However, they did have geographical luck on their side, as their qualifying tournament (Ranked 4th of the four) was located in Brooklyn, NY, which is an area with a significant Jewish population, who came out to support the teams quest for seemingly the improbable task of making the World Baseball Classic.
First up in the double elimination four team field were Great Britain, who Israel came from behind to defeat 5-2, advancing to the semifinal round against Brazil. In a pitchers duel that your truly got to witness, a Cody Decker sac fly in the fourth was all Israel needed in their 1-0 win, backed by a great pitching performance out of Corey Baker(5 scoreless frames) and a lights-out bullpen to advance to the finals, and the right to nab the 16th and final spot in the WBC.
Facing Great Britain once again, the offense exploded with homers from Blake Gailen(2run HR) Ryan Lavarnway(2run HR) , and Cody Decker, to cruise to a 9-1 demolition, making history in front of a raucous pro-Israel crowd at MCU park in Brooklyn, NY.
Up next was the World Baseball Classic, where the world watched as Israel continued their magical run . Israel took down all three opposing teams in the first round to finish atop the pool, defeating #3 ranked South Korea (2-1 in 10 innings l) , # 4 ranked Chinese Taipei (15-7, the most the opposition had ever given up in their WBC history) , and the #9 ranked Netherlands (4-2). Israel became the first baseball team to go undefeated in the first round of the WBC’s main draw as a “Wild Card”.
Team Israel’s catcher, Ryan Lavarnway, was awarded Pool A MVP. Israel qualified for the second round; Pool E in Tokyo, Japan, that would eventually be a sight they would return to four years later in the 2020 Olympics.
In the first game of the second round, Israel beat #5 ranked Cuba 4-1, but a 12-2 loss to the Netherlands, and an 8-3 loss to Japan brought a run many deemed “Impossible” to a close.
Israel would make it back to the national stage two years later though, winning the European Baseball championship to be one of just six teams who qualified for the 2020 Baseball Olympics. The Israelis didn’t fare well in their first two contests , getting walked off 6-5 in devastating fashion by Korea in extra innings, and being stomped 8-1 by the eventual Silver Medalists in the United States .
Needing a victory to keep their medal hopes alive, Danny Valencia blasted a big three run bomb, keying a five-run top of the third to put Israel up 6-0. However, a furious rally by Mexico would cut that deficit to a run headed into the seventh inning . But that’s when Israel put their foot on gas once more, and erupted for a six run outburst, helping them notch their first ever Olympic baseball victory 12-5, and ensure a top five finish in the world for baseball.
Unfortunately at least for this tournament, that’s as far as Israel went, getting “Mercied” 11-1 by Korea in six innings, before failing to put away the Dominican Republic in their Repechage round game, blowing two late leads in a “Gut-punching” 7-6 walk-off defeat putting the curtain on their Tokyo dream.
Still, the fact this team backed up their sixth place finish at the WBC four years ago with a fifth place finish in the Olympics, after never having won anything of significance prior to that is something Jewish baseball fans can take pride in, knowing the holy land is finally making headlines in the sport of America’s pastime which can only show signs of even more achdut within the nation.
We hope you enjoyed the Jewish Voices coverage of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, and hope the performance by team Israel inspires others to achieve their dreams and believe in what many tell them is improbable.
PS: See you in Beijing for the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics beginning Friday February 4th- Sunday February 20th! Have a great week everyone!
