On Saturday, Tom Reuveny won the gold medal in Men’s Windsurfing at the Paris Olympics.
It marks the country’s first gold medal in the competition and fourth overall in the country’s Olympic history.
On the same day Israel won two other medals, with Sharon Kantor, 21, winning a silver in sailing and Artem Dolgopyat also winning a silver in gymnastics.
Silver medallist Israel's Sharon Kantor celebrates after the women's IQFoil windsurfing final during the Paris 2024 Olympic Games sailing competition at the Roucas-Blanc Marina in Marseille on August 3, 2024. (Photo by Christophe SIMON / AFP) (Photo by CHRISTOPHE SIMON/AFP via Getty Images)AFP via Getty Images
According to the Jerusalem Post, Reuveny, 24, won the gold medal 20 years after his coach, Gal Friedman, won it in Athens.
Speaking to reporters in Israel, Friedman said: “I believed in him all the way. I had a good feeling even before the competition.
“All week, I told him that he has it and he just needs to take it, not that anyone here gives gifts. We saw how the competitors lose it under pressure. In terms of pressure, we are in the right place: We handled it well.”
Gymnast Dolgopyat, who secured silver in the final of the men’s floor gymnastics, finished first at the previous Olympics, making him the first Israeli athlete to win medals at consecutive games.
Speaking to the media after the match he said he “had a difficult few months in training – and in the qualifiers, I didn’t give a good performance, and I didn’t know if I would make it. I went into a kind of depression.
“The team helped me prepare and picked me up. After I made it to the finals, I realised that I could do it with a very good feeling – that I could represent Israel as the best in the world.”
Reuveny’s family told reporters: “We are insanely proud of him. From the age of 10, he gave so much to reach this moment. We saw him from the sidelines, working and training endlessly. We will just say that we are happy that he brought pride to the State of Israel.”
Moving scenes showed Reuveny collecting his gold medal while Israel's national anthem Hatikvah was played.
Reuveny told Reuters that the achievement was even more meaningful against the backdrop of October 7.
He said: “My brother has been a combat soldier since the war began... it’s much bigger than me [winning] this event and it feels amazing.
“It was so hard to go training while everyone else was crying over lost people, dead people. It’s been so hard and I still had to put my head down and keep training and it’s all for this moment.”
Speaking to Israeli Sports Channel 5, Sharon Kantor’s mother said: “She is fulfilling herself, doing something she loves very much. She has a passion for sailing. She really wanted to participate in this final day and show what she’s capable of.
“I spoke to her last night, and she was completely calm. She is a calm child. She’s having fun and has a lot of joy in her heart. She wanted to go out and compete.”
Israel's Tom Reuveny (R) competes in race 13 of the men's IQFoil windsurfing event during the Paris 2024 Olympic Games (Photo Getty Images)AFP via Getty Images
Following her sailing competition Kantor said: “I am so happy. I can’t believe it. I felt good. I am thrilled and so happy for the country. What a joy.”
She added: “It requires a lot. I am glad that the association supports me. The Olympic Committee is always there. I have an amazing team training with me 24/7. All of this is thanks to them. I’m crazy happy.
“It has meaning, and that’s one of the reasons I wanted to do it. It’s exciting to be a woman winning a medal, and now in sailing, it’s just crazy. The number of Israelis here with the Israeli flag is so unusual in the landscape.”
Opposition Leader Yair Lapid took to Twitter/X to celebrate the double sailing medals.
Lapid wrote: "We are proud of Reuveny and Kantor, which gives us a lot of pride during this period."
Israeli President Isaac Herzog also congratulated the athletes who won Olympic medals.
He wrote: "You are champions and inspiring! You have brought immense pride to the State of Israel! Tom, you raised the flag as high as possible, and thanks to you, our national anthem was played for the first time at the Olympic Games this year!"
