It was the Jewish state’s most successful Olympics ever – but making history was the last thing on Israeli athletes’ minds when their plane returned to Ben Gurion Airport on Monday.
“I wanted to give my people these moments of happiness. This medal is not just mine, it’s theirs,” silver medal-winning judoka Raz Hershko told the JC.
“Since the war started, I have felt an even bigger desire to show the world how amazing and strong Israelis are,” she added.
That sentiment – the desire to bring pride, joy and strength to their fellow countrymen – may even have been the magic ingredient that delivered Israel’s historic seven-medal haul.
As gold-medal winning windsurfer Tom Reuveny told a press conference at Ben Gurion: “I really remember myself, just before the deciding final race, I thought about the whole State of Israel, I knew that the gold would not just be for me.
“There are so many soldiers who have been called together to protect us, and thanks to them I am here right now.
“I want to offer a warm embrace to the families of the fallen [soldiers], it’s also thanks to them I’m even standing here and thanks to them we were even able to go to this Olympics.”
Tom Reuveny celebrates winning Gold in the Men's Windsurf iQFoil class final (Photo by Alex Livesey/Getty Images)
Hershko, who said she had lot of friends fighting in Gaza, stressed that competing in the Olympics and raising the national flag was the most important thing she could do.
“I knew some of the fallen soldiers. It’s hard but it gives me the strength and the will to compete, be the best and show that nothing can break us,” she said.
“There is no greater pride than representing our beautiful country at the Olympics and everywhere in the world,” said Hershko, who won the gold medal at the European Judo Championships earlier this year.
Sharon Kantor, who won silver in the iQFOil windsurfing class, told the JC: “Three years ago I had to make a choice between enlisting in the Israeli army and starting an athletics programme. The end goal was to go to the Olympics.
“While I tried not to focus too much on the war, I obviously thought about it a lot. I was glad to be representing Israel and I tried to get power from what we are going through as a country,” she said.
“This medal is for Israel, I dedicate it to my country.”
Raz Hershko wins silver medal - credit: Olympic Israeli Committee
Despite the tense geopolitical climate and widespread hatred of Israel, Hershko said she felt at home in Paris because of the groundswell of support from her fellow countrymen.
“So many people came to watch us, and for that I can’t thank them enough,” she said. “Now, I’ve been home for a week. People recognise me on the street; wherever I go, I get tremendous love from the Israeli people and it’s not something that I take for granted.”
In addition to gold for Reuveny and the silvers for Kantor and Hershko, gymnast Artem Dolgopyat won silver in the men’s floor exercise, the rhythmic gymnastics team won silver in the all-around competition, judoka Inbar Lanir won silver, and his fellow judoka Peter Paltchik clinched a bronze.
Yael Arad, the president of the Olympic Committee of Israel, said on Monday that Israel’s seven-medal haul surpassed every expectation following “a very difficult year”.
Arad said that when Olympic officials earlier this year “set four-to-five medals as the goal, people raised their eyebrows”, suggesting that the effects of the war had harmed Israel’s ability to train and compete at the highest level.
“As you saw over the past 2.5 weeks, this delegation surpassed our wildest imagination,” said Arad. “The athletes proved that the Israeli spirit is something that cannot be stopped.”
Among her many expressions of gratitude to everyone involved, Arad also specifically thanked all the many Israeli security bodies involved in protecting the athletes and the delegation, who “allowed all of us to do what we came to Paris to do… without them we wouldn’t have been able to”.
