Israel at the Olympics

Israel has competed at the Olympic Games as a nation since 1952. Its National Olympic Committee was formed in 1933 during the British Mandate of Palestine.[1] Israel has sent a team to each Summer Olympic Games since 1952 (except when they participated in the American-led boycott of the 1980 Summer Olympics) and to each Winter Olympic Games since 1994. The country became a member of the European Olympic Committees (EOC) in 1994.

Israel at the
Olympics
IOC codeISR
NOCOlympic Committee of Israel
Websitewww.olympicsil.co.il (in Hebrew and English)
Medals
Gold
1
Silver
1
Bronze
7
Total
9
Summer appearances
Winter appearances

History

Israeli postal stamp, 1964

In 1933 the Palestine National Olympic Committee was officially formed, and was recognized by the International Olympic Committee in May 1934,[2] despite never competing.[1] Although the Palestine National committee represented Muslims, Jews, and Christians living in Mandatory Palestine, its rules stated that they "represent[ed] the Jewish National Home."[1]

Israel was previously part of the Asian Games Federation until it was disbanded in 1981. In 1982 instead of joining the new Olympic Council of Asia, Israel opted to join the European Olympic Committees.[3]

Competing

Israel won its first Olympic medal in its tenth Olympic appearance, in 1992, in Judo when Yael Arad won a silver medal.[4] She was followed a day later by another judoka, Oren Smadja, who won bronze.[5] Since then, Israel won a bronze medal in five successive Summer Olympics until the streak ended in 2012. Additionally, in 2004, Gal Fridman became Israel's first and only gold medallist, in men's windsurfing.[6] This was his second medal, following his bronze in 1996,[6] and he is the only multi-medallist. Israel also won 2 bronze medals in 2016. Through 2014, Israel had not won any medals in the Winter Olympics.

Ágnes Keleti, who emigrated to Israel in 1957, holds more medals than any other Israeli citizen. During the 1952 and 1956 Summer Olympics Ágnes won 10 medals competing for Hungary at the Olympics.[7] The only Jew to hold more medals than Keleti is American swimmer Mark Spitz, who won 11.[8]

Israel has been more successful at the Paralympic Games than at the Olympics, with 375 medals between 1960 and 2016.[9]

Conflicts with nations

1936 Summer Olympics

Individual Jewish athletes from a number of countries chose to boycott the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin. In the United States, the American Jewish Congress and the Jewish Labor Committee supported a boycott.[10] The JLC organized the World Labor Athletic Carnival, held on August 15 and 16 at New York’s Randall’s Island, to protest the holding of the 1936 Olympics in Nazi Germany.[11]

1972 Summer Olympics

Eleven members of Israel's 1972 Olympic team were murdered during the Munich massacre:[12] The tragedy caused the Israeli delegation to withdraw from the remainder of the Games.

The murdered people were:

On 3 August 2016, two days prior to the start of the 2016 Summer Olympics, the International Olympic Committee officially honored the Israelis killed for the first time.[13]

1980 Summer Olympics

Israel was one of the countries that boycotted the Moscow Olympics in protest at the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, but also because of Soviet anti-semitic and anti-Israel policies.[14]

Recent events

Israeli judoka Ori Sasson

An Iranian judoka, Arash Miresmaeili, did not compete in a match against Israeli Ehud Vaks during the 2004 Summer Olympics, due to the government of Iran having taken steps to avoid any competition between its athletes and those from Israel. He was officially disqualified for being overweight, however Miresmaeli was awarded US$125,000 in prize money by the Iranian government, an amount paid to all Iranian gold medal winners. The International Judo Federation conducted an investigation to see if he intentionally came in overweight in order to miss the bout. He was officially cleared of intentionally avoiding the bout, but his receipt of the prize money raised suspicion.[15] Saudi Arabian judoka, Joud Fahmy, forfeited her match in the 2016 Summer Olympics in order to avoid competing against Gili Cohen.[16] Later in the 2016 Summer Olympics, Israeli Or Sasson defeated Egyptian judoka Islam El Shahaby in the first round, after the match ended, Sasson tried to shake his opponent's hand, but El Shahaby refused.[17]

Prior to the 2016 opening ceremony, the Lebanese delegation was assigned to ride on the same bus as the Israeli delegation.[18] The head of the Lebanese team, Salim al-Haj Nicolas, admitted that he demanded that the bus door be closed on the Israeli team, and that the Lebanese demanded that the Israeli athletes not board the bus. Udi Gal, an Israeli Olympic sailor, said his team ultimately decided to travel separately to avoid an "international and physical incident" but added "How could they let this happen on the eve of the Olympic Games? Isn't this the opposite of what the Olympics represents?"[19]

Medal tables

Gold medalist windsurfer Gal Fridman

Medals by Games

GamesGoldSilverBronzeTotal
1992 Barcelona0112
1996 Atlanta0011
2000 Sydney0011
2004 Athens1012
2008 Beijing0011
2016 Rio de Janeiro0022
Totals (6 games)1179

Medals by sport

SportGoldSilverBronzeTotal
Sailing1023
Judo0145
Canoeing0011
Totals (3 sports)1179

List of medalists

Medal Name Games Sport Event
 Silver[4]Yael Arad 1992 Barcelona JudoWomen's half middleweight
 Bronze[5]Oren Smadja 1992 Barcelona JudoMen's lightweight
 Bronze[6]Gal Fridman 1996 Atlanta SailingMen's sailboard
 Bronze[20]Michael Kolganov 2000 Sydney CanoeingMen's K-1 500 metres
 Bronze[21]Ariel Zeevi 2004 Athens JudoMen's half heavyweight
 Gold[6]Gal Fridman 2004 Athens SailingMen's sailboard
 Bronze[22]Shahar Tzuberi 2008 Beijing SailingMen's sailboard
 Bronze[23]Yarden Gerbi 2016 Rio de Janeiro JudoWomen's half middleweight
 Bronze[24]Or Sasson 2016 Rio de Janeiro JudoMen's heavyweight

Olympic participants

Summer Olympics

Sport 1952 1956 1960 1964 1968 1972 1976 1984 1988 1992 1996 2000 2004 2008 2012 2016 Total
Athletics71852217449543870
Badminton112
Basketball1313
Boxing2316
Canoeing/Kayaking1153111
Cycling224
Diving112
Fencing221411311319
Football191736
Golf11
Gymnastics3153112810741
Judo12423535738
Sailing2154556677654
Shooting4234212332231133
Swimming1142612315411497970
Synchronized swimming224
Table tennis11
Taekwondo1113
Tennis141243116
Triathlon11
Weightlifting231131112
Wrestling3124133118
Total2632310311527372031254135433747451

Winter Olympics

Sport 1994 1998 2002 2006 2010 2014 2018 Total
Alpine Skiing11114
Figure Skating134423724
Short Track Speed Skating1113
Skeleton11
Total1355351032

See also

References

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