Israeli Judoka Inbar Lanir’s silver medal win in Paris captures hearts at home

The post which has amassed hundreds of likes and shares includes photos of Lanir with Meshulam’s two children with a screenshot of their text messages.

But, it was only after a Google search Meshulam realised it was the two-time Olympic medallist who looked after her kids.

She wrote: “In retrospect, I realised that she was none other than the one and only, Inbar Lanir. Instead of training for the Olympics, she’s babysitting. So just know that behind a well-deserved medal stands a woman with a heart of gold.”

And after finding out about Lanir’s Olympic success on Thursday, Meshulam told Israel news website Mako, “We watched her and were very excited when she won.”

During Lanir’s performance at the Olympics she included a subtle reminder to October 7th.

She was spotted wearing a yellow scrunchie while competing to represent the Israeli hostages held by Hamas in Gaza. As political statements are forbidden at the Games when Lanir was asked about the Scrunchie she told The Times of Israel, “Those who understand it, will understand.”

She added, “Since the start of the war, my stomach has been in knots. I knew that the one thing I could do is keep training and doing what I’m best at because I have the privilege to represent the country and to raise the flag around the world — and that gave me huge motivation.”

Moments before Lanir’s silver, Israeli judoka Peter Paltchik won bronze in the men’s 100kg. The wins on Thursday have boosted Israel’s Judo record at the Games to eight medals.