By: Aryeh Savir
Israeli Paralympic swimmer Mark Malyar brought great pride to the country on Monday when he won his third medal at the 2020 Tokyo Paralympic Games.
He finished the 100 meters backstroke swim in third place with a personal and national record of 1: 10.08, and was awarded a bronze medal.
This is Malyar’s first bronze after winning two gold medals in Tokyo Games. On Friday, he won the gold medal in the 200m individual medley and broke the world record. On Sunday he finished first in the 400 meters free-style swimming race and broke the world record.
“Mark, this is so exciting. You are unstoppable. Both a gold medal and a Made-in-Israel world record! I wish you, your brother, and your special coach Yaakov Beininson more medals over the course of the games. Well done!” President Isaac Herzog stated after Malyar’s first medal and added that he was waiting to see Mark and the rest of the Israeli delegation at the President’s Residence at the earliest opportunity.
Malyar’s latest medal is Israel’s sixth in the Tokyo Games.
On Sunday, rower Moran Samuel won the country’s fourth medal, receiving a silver medal in the women’s 2,000-meter single sculls.
On Saturday, Israeli swimmer Ami Dadon won a silver medal, Israel’s third medal at the Tokyo Paralympic Games in the 150-meter individual medley with a result of 2: 29.48 minutes.
On Wednesday, Iyad Shalabi, an Israeli swimmer, made history when he became the first Israeli-Arab to win a gold medal at the Paralympics Games.
Shalabi came in first in the 100-meter backstroke with 2:28.04 minutes. He further made history also as the first Israeli-Arab to receive a medal in the Olympic or Paralympic Games.
Israel’s collection of medals at the 2020 Games is significantly larger than the two bronze medals won at the 2016 Rio Games.
These four athletes are members of the 33 athletes’ team in 11 sports Israel sent to the Tokyo Games.
These last medals join the 375 Paralympic medals Israel has won, including 130 gold medals, placing it fifteenth on the list of medal-winning countries.
(TPS)
