Israeli judoka Inbar Lanir has won a silver medal in Paris after a hard-fought battle against Italy’s Alice Bellandi in the Women’s 78kg – marking the nation’s best finish in the sport since 1992.
But she’s also been praised for her selfless actions in the wake of October 7, after she offered to babysit and cook for a woman whose family was serving in Gaza.
Just days after October 7th, Sheizaf Tal Meshulam got a message from her neighbour, Lanir offering to babysit and pick up shopping.
Meshulam who wrote about Lanir’s gesture of kindness in a now-viral Facebook post, described how Lanir ran errands, played with her kids and also “cooked meals that wouldn’t embarrass a chef” in the days after the outbreak of war in Gaza.
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.
