With the 15th day of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics underway, this live blog follows the Israeli wins, losses and surprises.
Israeli rhythmic gymnasts Linoy Ashram, 22, and Nicol Zelikman, 20, are competing in the final at 2020 Tokyo Olympics. This is the first time that two Israeli gymnastics have secured a spot in an Olympic final.
Ashram is currently ranked at first place after completing her hoop routine in the final’s first round.
Ashram started off with a low score (23.500 points) in Friday’s preliminaries in her first round after her hoop fell, but scored 28.250 points in her routine with the ball, coming first in that round.
Zelikman scored 24.350 points in the hoop round, and 25.500 with the ball.
Israel’s rhythmic gymnastics team started strong and qualified for the final after scoring 84.65 in their routine with the ball and clubs.
The Israeli team has now a chance at an Olympic medal at Sunday’s final. The team will perform again the routine with the ball and clubs.
It was closer than ever, but the hope for an Olympic medal for Israel in the marathon has vanished.
Lonah Chemtai Salpeter was one of the leading runners throughout the whole race, but with only four kilometers left, while she was in third place, she suddenly stopped.
She let American Molly Seidel pass her, and join Kenyans Brigid Kosgei and Peres Jepchirchir up ahead.
The race that took place under especially difficult conditions due to the heat and humidity.
Twenty-two-year-old Israeli athlete Linoy Ashram is one step closer to the Olympic finals in rhythmic gymnastics. Ashram started off with a low score (23.500 points) in her first round after her hoop fell, but scored 28.250 points in her routine with the ball.
The other Israeli gymnast, 20-year-old Nicol Zelikman, was also well on her way to securing a place in the finals which are held on Saturday, scoring 24.350 points in the hoop round, and 25.500 with the ball.
If Ashram and Zelikman remain among the top 10 they will qualify for the finals.
Linoy Ashram doing her clubs routine, earlier today in Tokyo
Israeli Olympic Committee
Matan Roditi achieved a historic feat of a fourth place finish for Israel in marathon swimming on Thursday, falling just 23 seconds short of a bronze medal.
The 22-year-old’s finish of 1:49:24.9 hours in the men’s 10 kilometers race was a record position for Israel in Olympic swimming.
His Italian competitor, Gregorio Paltrinieri, took the bronze medal with 1:49:01.1 hours.
The world champion, the German Florian Wellbrock, won the gold medal, with a time of 1:48:33.7 hours, with the Hungarian Kristof Rasovsky finishing in second place.
Swimmer Matan Roditi
Guy Yehieli
Former Toronto Blue Jay Jose Bautista knocked in Yefri Perez to complete a ninth-inning rally as the Dominican Republic defeated Israel 7-6 in Olympic baseball knockout stage action on Tuesday.
The defeat eliminates Israel from the competition, leaving the Blue and White to finish the tournament in fifth place, just ahead of Mexico. The Dominican Republic stays in the hunt for a medal.
Israel had taken the lead in the top of the eighth inning of the back-and-forth battle to go up 6-5 after Danny Valencia clobbered a two-run homer that also scored Ian Kinsler.
Johan Mieses, an outfielder in the Boston Red Sox organization, opened the bottom of the ninth for the Dominicans with a home run of his own. Veteran MLB outfielder Melky Cabrera followed with a single. Perez then came in as a pinch runner. Roldani Baldwin then sacrificed Perez to second. Israel’s pitcher Zack Weiss walked Guzman intentionally before being pulled for closer David Sharabi.
Gustavo Nunez grounded into a fielder’s choice that put Perez on third, setting up Bautista for the winning at-bat.
Nick Rickles of Israel out at home base against Roldani Baldwin of the Dominican Republic
JORGE SILVA / REUTERS
Artistic swimmers Eden Belcher and Shelly Bobricki came in 16th on first of two days of duet preliminaries with a score of 84.63333 in the free routine.
The two will advance to the second day of prelims on Tuesday with a technical routine, and if they achieve a ranking of 12 or higher, they will advance to the finals on Wednesday.
Although the two are currently just 3.4 points shy from 12th place, they do not anticipate that they will qualify for finals. They are, however, quite pleased with their score.
Israeli runner Selamawit Bayoulgn Teferi came in 10th in the Women’s 5000 meters track final. The Netherlands’ Sifan Hassan came in first, with Kenyan Helen Obiri second and Ethiopian Gudaf Tesgay third.
Israel’s baseball team lost to South Korea (11:1), earning the latter a spot in the semi-final.
While this is Israel’s third loss in the tournament, the team is still in the running for a medal. Tomorrow’s game against the Dominican Republic will be the team’s do-or-die moment, constituting their last chance to remain in the competition.
>> Click here to read the full report
Israeli athlete Hanna Knyazyeva-Minenko finished sixth in the triple jump final at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.
Knyazyeva-Minenko set her best result this year, 14.60 meters, in her second jump in the final.
Knyazyeva-Minenko made it to the final after jumping 14.36 meters in the qualification round.
Israeli athlete Hanna Knyazyeva-Minenko is competing in the triple jump final at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.
Knyazyeva-Minenko made it to the finals after jumping 14.36 meters in the qualifier. Her results were not enough to take her straight to the final, but because she finished in eighth place, she went on to the next stage.
This is Knyazyeva-Minenko’s third Olympic final in the triple jump. In London in 2012, where she represented Ukraine, she reached fourth place with a 14.56 meter jump. Four years later, in Rio de Janeiro, she represented Israel and finished in fifth place, but with a better result than in London, with 14.68.
Hanna Knyazyeva-Minenko during the triple jump at the Tokyo Olympic qualifiers.
DYLAN MARTINEZ/??????
Israeli gymnast Artem Dolgopyat has won the gold medal for the floor exercise in the Tokyo 2020 Olympics – Israel’s first medal that is not bronze.
Click here to read the full article
The Israeli Olympic baseball team defeated Mexico 12-5 in a historic win on Sunday morning.
This was the team’s third game and first win in the Tokyo Olympics. Thanks to this win, the Israeli team will remain in the games and play at least two more times.
Click here to read the full article
The Israeli mixed judo team won the bronze after defeating Russia 4-1 in the consolation bracket. This is Israel’s first team medal.
This Israel’s second Olympic medal at Tokyo 2020 after Taekwondo fighter Avishag Semberg also won a bronze medal last week.
Click here to read the full article.
Even though he won the final medal race, Israeli windsurfer Yoav Cohen finished in fourth place and missed out on winning a bronze medal.
Cohen’s loss was extremely painful as he was one point away from the bronze.
The Israeli mixed judo team won 2-4 against Brazil and is now hoping to clinch the bronze medal in the consolation bracket.
Israel will face off against Russia after losing 4-3 to France in the quarter-finals.
The Israeli judo team lost 4-3 to France, which is considered the strongest team in the quarter-finals.
Israel will now compete for the bronze medal in the consolation bracket.
Israel’s mixed gender relay team finished in the eighth and last place in the 4X100 relay final with a time of 3:44.77 minutes. Britain set a world record at 3:37.58 minutes, beating out China and Australia. The U.S. team finished fifth.
Israeli Itay Shanny was eliminated Saturday in the round of 32 of the olympic archery competition, despite having come back from deficits of 4:0 and 5:1. The archer faced off against Tang Chih-Chun of Taiwan, a medalist who had finished the preliminary rounds in 12 place with 628 points.
During the first round, the two were tied at 17 after each had taken two shots out of three, but Chih-Chun hit a bullseye giving him 10 points, while Shanny could only manage an eight.
In the second round Chih-Chun hit two bullseyes and one nine, while Shanny could only manage two eights and a seven, which put him at a 4:0 deficit, one point from defeat.
In the third round, Shanny was able to make a bit of a recovery by shooting a triple of nines, thereby giving him 27 points and cutting Chih-Chun’s lead to 4:2, but the Taiwanese managed another bullseye, thus tying the score and expanding his lead to 5:1.
The fourth round found Shanny besting his opponent. The Taiwanese lead went down to 5:3, with Shanny needing to win in the following round to tie the match up at 5:5. Shanny then had his best round yet, with two nines and a bullseye, thereby forcing a tie-breaker.
Despite the heroic comeback efforts, Shanny’s opponent hit a bullseye, while the Israeli just got a nine which eliminated him from the competition after a dramatic match.
Israel’s Olympic baseball team lost 8-1 to the United States in its second game on Friday.
Israel will continue on to the knockout stage, where it will face off against the team that finishes third in the other group. If the Israeli team wins, it still has a chance to win a medal.
The Israeli team started strong, with two hits by Ty Kelly and Danny Valencia that put two runners on the bases with two outs, before the catcher, Ryan Lavarnway, went to bat. Lavarnway, who hit two home runs in the game against South Korea on Thursday, struck out; the first inning ended 0-0.
The ice broke when Eddie Alvarez got to second base, which led to the American team leading by one point. As in Israel’s game with South Korea, the Israeli team lost its lead due to two straight home runs by the opposing team. The troubles continued with Tyler Austin’s home run, putting the United States in a 3-0 lead.
Israel scored a point in the fourth inning due to one of Valencia’s home runs; the player is one of the most experienced and decorated players on the Israeli team. Israel continued its momentum with two more hits from Lavarnway and Nick Rickles, which made catching up to the U.S. team possible. But two outs helped the American team recover and keep their lead. The U.S. team scored two more runs in the sixth, seventh, eighth and ninth innings secured a U.S. victory.
At the top of the ninth inning, the U.S. Olympic Baseball team is leading 7-1 over Israel.
At the top of the seventh inning, the U.S. baseball team is beating Israel 6-1.
Israel’s Olympics baseball team lost to South Korea in a 6-5 opening round game that saw the country’s first-ever home runs at the Games on Thursday.
South Korea will face off with the U.S. team on Saturday.
Israeli triple and long jumper Hanna Knyazyeva-Minenko qualified for the Olympic final for the third time in a row, in the triple jump competition.
She made three successful jumps at 14.27, 14.35 and 14.36 meters.
Although she did not meet the initial criteria for qualifying for the final, Knyazyeva-Minenko finished in eighth place overall in the competition, guaranteeing her a spot in the final.
Hanna Knyazyeva-Minenko competing in the women’s triple jump in Tokyo on Friday.
Andrej Isakovic / AFP
Israeli runner Selamawit Teferi qualified on Friday for the women’s 5,000m final, breaking the Israeli record. Teferi finished in 8th place in her first qualifying round on Friday at 14:53.43 minutes, 15 seconds better than the previous Israeli record, which she also set.
She is the first Israeli athlete to compete in an Olympic final for track since Esther Roth-Shahamorov competed in the 100-meter hurdles final at in Montreal in 1976.
Selamawit Teferi during the women’s 5,000m race on Friday.
Aleksandra Szmigiel / Reuters
The score of the Israel-U.S. baseball game is currently 3-0 with the Americans leading at the bottom of the third inning.
Israel’s Olympics baseball team lost to South Korea in a 6-5 opening round game that saw the country’s first-ever home runs at the Games on Thursday.
South Korea will face off with the U.S. team on Saturday.
Israel’s Olympics basebell team lost to South Korea in a 6-5 opening round game that saw the country’s first-ever home runs at the Games.
Israel will play against the U.S. team on Friday, and South Korea will face off with the U.S. team on Saturday. Israel’s baseball team is ranked 24th in the world. The other five teams competing – Japan, South Korea, Mexico, the United States and the Dominican Republic – all rank among the world’s top 10.
Israel’s mixed medley swim team has qualified for the final after finishing fifth in Thursday’s heat and eighth overall. The team consists of Anastasia Gorbenko, Andi Murez, Itay Goldfaden, Gal Cohen Groumi.
The team set a new Israeli record, finishing with a time of 3:43.94 seconds and qualifying it for the Olympics’ first-ever mixed medley relay final.
Israel’s four-time all star Ian Kinsler crushes a 2-run home run to left field, putting the national baseball team on the board for the first time in its Olympic history.
After the game was tied at 2-2, Israel hit another 2-run shot to center field, bringing the score to 4-2.
To say the Israeli team is not favored to win gold would be an understatement. The other five teams competing – Japan, South Korea, Mexico, the United States and the Dominican Republic – all rank among the world’s top 10. Israel ranks 24th.
“On paper, everyone would call us the underdog – and that’s fine,” says Mitch Glasser, an outfielder on the team. “We’re used to being the underdog. But the beautiful thing is that this sport is baseball and in baseball, anything can happen in nine innings. It’s all about how teams come together – and it’s not always the team that looks the best on paper that wins.”
Read our full story on the underdog team’s path to Tokyo
Israeli judoka Peter Paltchik was defeated by Canada’s Shady El Nahas in his match on Thursday, losing his chance to advance to win the bronze medal.
Otgonbaatar Lkhagvasuren of Mongolia in action against Peter Paltchik of Israel, today.
ANNEGRET HILSE/ REUTERS
Israeli windsurfer Katy Spychakov lost her chance of winning a medal in the Tokyo Olympics, as she currently is in sixth place in the overall competition and at best could reach fourth. Spychakov had a successful day Thursday, finishing twice first and once third.
Israeli judoka Peter Paltchik lost in the -100kg quarterfinals to Japan’s Aaron Wolf on Thursday.
Paltchik will compete later on Thursday in a repechage fight for the bronze medal.
Wolf is the 2017 world champion and bronze medalist from the 2019 world championship.
Israeli judoka Inbar Lanir lost her fight in the elimination round of 16 on Thursday and was knocked out of the competition in Tokyo.
Lanir lost to the Brazilian Mayra Aguiar In the category of women’s under 18 kg in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
Israeli judoka Peter Paltchik won his fight against the Mongol Otgonbaatar Lkhagvasuren on Thursday morning and moves on to the quarterfinals.
The Israeli competes in the under 100 kg category at the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games. In the quarterfinals, he will meet Japan’s Aaron Wolf.
Israeli joduka and former world champion Sagi Muki was eliminated from the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo.
The seasoned Israeli joduka, from whom expectations were high, lost his fight to the Austrian Shamil Borchashvili in the elimination round of 16 of the under 81kg event.
Sagi Muki, Israel’s senior judoka, defeated Brazilian Eduardo Yudi Santos on Monday at the Tokyo Olympics in a minute and 36 seconds.
He will now advance to the -81kg elimination round of 16.
Israeli swimmer Anastasia Gorbenko made history when she became the first Israeli swimmer to swim in an Olympic final for women, finishing in 8th place during the women’s 100m back stroke final on Monday at the Tokyo Olympics.
Gurbanko will also compete in the semifinals in the 200m individual medley, a category in which she won the European Championship this year.
>> Click here for the full report
Israeli swimmer Anastasia Gorbenko proceeded to the Women’s 200m individual medley final on Monday.
Gorbenko’s 2:10.21 minutes was enough for her to finish fourth in the semis third heat, eventually granting her a ticket to the final.
The 17-year-old also moved on to the finals in the Women’s 100m backstroke event after completing her heat in just 59.30 seconds breaking the Israeli record by 30 milliseconds.
Israeli joduka Tohar Butbul lost on Monday his repechage fight at the 2020 Tokyo Games, missing Israel’s chance at a second Olympic medal.
The Israeli judoka lost to the Canadian Arthur Margelidon in the Men’s under 73 kg event.
Earlier on Monday, he lost to South Korea’s An Chang-rim in the quarterfinals, however, he got a second chance at a medal though a repechage fight.
Israeli joduka Timna Nelson Levy lost on Monday her repechage fight at the 2020 Tokyo Games, missing her chance at an Olympic medal.
Nelson Levy, who competes in the women’s under 57 kg, lost to Slovenia’s Kaja Kajzer with an ippon.
Earlier on Monday, she lost to Japan’s Tsukasa Yoshida in the quarterfinals.
Israel’s Tohar Butbul quest for an Olympic bronze continues although the Israeli judoka lost his quaterfinals fight against South Korea’s Changrim An.
In the Men’s under 73 kg repechage round Butbul will meet the Canadian Arthur Margelidon hoping to win a second medal for Israel in the competition.
Butbul proceeded to the quarterfinals, earlier on Monday, after a Sudanese and Algerian competitors withdrew from event to avoid a potential battle against him.
Swimmer Anastasia Gorbenko will be the first Israeli to compete in the Women’s 100m backstroke finals in the Olympics.
The 17-year-old moved to the finals after completing her heat in just 59.30 seconds breaking the Israeli record by 30 milliseconds.
Amir Tito, Israel Swimming Association CEO, said that “everything is working as planned.” Adding that officials in the association “aren’t surprised,” by Gorbenko’s results.
Israel’s Tohar Butbul quest for an Olympic medal continues after the Israeli judoka won his round of 16 fight against Romenia’s Victor Sterpu.
In the Men’s under 73 kg quarterfinals, the Israeli athlete will meet South Korea’s Changrim An. Butbul moved on to the quarterfinals after a Sudanese and Algerian competitors withdrew from event to avoid a potential battle against the Israeli.
Israeli joduka Timna Nelson Levy lost on Monday her quarterfinals fight at the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games.
Although, Nelson Levy, who competes in the women’s under 57 kg, lost to Japan’s Tsukasa Yoshida in the quarterfinals, the Israeli judoka will have a chance to win a bronze medal if she remains victorious in the next two fights.
Katy Spychakov and Yoav Cohen finished the first day of the Tokyo Olympic windsurfing competition on Sunday, both in fifth place.
Spychakov performed well in her first competition, finishing third in her first surf, then finishing fifth her second surf, and finished ninth in her third surf. In the sport, the weakest surf is disregarded, and won’t be counted toward the competitor’s final score.
Cohen finished his first surf in 12th place, but improved, finishing sixth in his second surf. The results allowed him to stabilize his standing in fifth place at the end of the first day. Cohen will need to maintain his position in order to have the results from his first and weakest surf disregarded.
Katy Spychakov competing in the Tokyo Olympics windsurfing
IVAN ALVARADO / REUTERS
Israeli Judoka Baruch Shmailov loses his chance to compete for a bronze medal in a fight against Brazilian athlete Daniel Cargnin.
Shmailov will finish in fifth place in the men’s -66kg judo tournament in the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.
Israel’s Baruch Shmailov (white) competes with Brazil’s Daniel Cargnin during their judo men’s -66kg bronze medal B bout during the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games
FRANCK FIFE / AFP
Israel’s Baruch Shmailov defeated Slovenian Adrian Gomboc in an ippon – a decisive victory – on Sunday, meaning that he remains in the running for the bronze medal.
Slovenia’s Adrian Gomboc (white) competes with Israel’s Baruch Shmailov during their judo bout at the Nippon Budokan in Tokyo, today.
JACK GUEZ – AFP
Israeli judoka Baruch Shmailov lost the quarter-final on Sunday and will fall to the consolation round for a shot at the bronze medal. Shmailov, faced off against the Georgian Vazha Margvelashvili, ranked fourth in the world, in the men’s 66 kilogram category.
The two judokas opened strong, and a minute later the Georgian brought Smailov down after a series of complex moves. He managed to pin the Israeli to the mat for four seconds, but Shmailov extricated himself and remained in the competition. With a minute to go, Margvelashvili brought Shmailov down once more, and he lost the round.
On the way to the quarter-final, Shmailov defeated Mozambique’s Kevin Loforte in the first round. He was once again victorious in round 16, bringing down Nathan Katz from Australia. Now the Israeli judoka is two victories from the second bronze medal for Israel in Tokyo 2020. His first win was against the Slovenian Adrian Gomboc.
Earlier, Israeli judoka Gili Cohen was defeated in the second round of the tournament after Charline van Snick of Belgium, ranked seventh in the world, won a decisive victory. Cohen (women’s 52 kilogram) surrendered to a clamp by the Belgian at 1 minute 48 seconds. In the first round, Cohen decisively defeated Gulbadam Baburamatova from Turkmenistan, 11 seconds before the end of the round.
“I told myself I wanted it more,” said Taekwondo fighter Avishag Semberg Saturday after becoming the first Israeli to win a medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
Semberg defeated the former European champion, Turkey’s Rukiye Yildirim 27-22 in the women’s -49 kg event, winning the bronze medal for Israel.
After being in the lead during most of the fight, Semberg fell behind in the middle of the decisive third round, but managed to retake the lead and ultimately win. “I knew I could give another kick and another kick and another kick, simply because I wanted it more,” Samberg said as she described what went through her mind in those moments.
An Algerian judoka reportedly pulled out of the Olympics on Thursday after seeing his tournament draw, which would have pitted him against an Israeli opponent in the second round.
“We were not lucky with the draw. We got an Israeli opponent and that’s why we had to retire. We made the right decision,” Fethi Nourine’s coach told Algerian media.
Nourine would have had to face Tohar Butbul in the under 73 kg division. He similarly pulled out of the 2019 World Championships in order to avoid Butbul, according to The Times of Israel.
Nourine is not the first athlete to intentionally evade an Israeli judoka. Iran’s judo federation has long forced its athletes to throw matches to avoid competing against Israelis. The International Judo Federation banned the Iranian team from international competition for a few days this spring over the policy but reinstated them on March 2.
At the 2016 Games in Rio, an Egyptian judoka refused to shake hands with Israeli Ori Sasson after losing to him. Sasson would go on to win a bronze medal in the over 100 kg group.
The opening ceremony of the Tokyo Olympics on Friday included an unprecedented commemoration and moment of silence for the Israeli athletes slain by Palestinian militant groups during the 1972 Munich Olympics.
Eleven Israeli athletes were killed in September 1972, when Palestinian militants belonging to a group called Black September stormed the Olympic village. Two were killed on the spot, and nine died later in a gun battle between Palestinian gunmen and German sharpshooters.
>> Commemoration of Munich massacre is an Israeli victory at Tokyo Olympics opening ceremony
English
Arabic
Chinese (Simplified)
Dutch
French
German
Italian
Portuguese
Russian
Spanish