Israeli athlete Tom Reuveny won the gold medal in Men’s Windsurfing at the Paris Olympics on Saturday, marking Israel’s first gold medal in this competition and fourth gold medal in the country’s Olympic history.
Reuveny, 24, won the medal in Marseille 20 years after his coach, Gal Friedman, won it himself in Athens. “I believed in him all the way. I had a good feeling even before the competition,” Israeli media quoted Friedman as saying. “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.”
Earlier the same day, Sharon Kantor, 21, won the silver medal in Sailing.
This comes after the two were supposed to compete in the finals on Friday, but these were postponed due to weather conditions that did not allow the competition to take place.
Later that day, Israeli gymnast Artem Dolgopyat also won Israel a silver medal in Gymnastics later that day, only losing to his Filipino competitor Carlos Edriel Yulo with a score of 15. Dolgopyat scored a score of 14.996 in his performance. This is the second medal he won in his career.
Overall, Israel has won 19 medals in its history, including six in this year’s competition – the best record in Olympic history for the Jewish state.
Reuveny, who is considered an introverted person, N12 reports, said that he disconnects from his surrounding environment a day before the competitions in order to concentrate. His family said “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.”
Four hours after the match, the ceremony was held marking Reuveny’s victory, where the Israeli national anthem Hatikvah played.
Statements by the athletes, families
Reuveny told Reuters after coming ashore that winning gold for Israel in the men’s windsurfing means far more than Olympic glory because of the war in Gaza, saying that “My brother has been a combat soldier since the war began … it’s much bigger than me to win 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 its all for this moment,” said the visibly emotional sailor.
Just before the finals began, Sharon Kantor’s mother said in an interview with Israeli Sports Channel 5: “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.”
A few moments after her victory, Sharon 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.” When speaking about the training and reaching this stage, 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.”
On the significance of her victory as a female athlete, Sharon noted “It has meaning, and that’s one of the reasons I wanted to do it. It’s exciting to be a girl 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.” Kantor also thanked her role model Lee Korzitz, Israeli media reported.
Dolgopyat said at a press conference after getting second place that 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,” Ynet quoted him.
“The team helped me prepare and picked me up. After I made it to the finals, I realized that I could do it with a very good feeling – that I could represent Israel as the best in the world.”
Reactions to the victory
Opposition Leader Yair Lapid took to X to congratulate the two athletes, saying “We are proud of Reuveny and Kantor, which gives us a lot of pride during this period.”
Herzliya mayor Yariv Fisher also congratulated Reuveny, as the athlete was part of the city’s sailing club, saying “A great honor to the city of Herzliya for Tom’s tremendous achievement. How nice that there is also a reason to be happy these days. We are proud of Tom and look forward to celebrating together with him when he returns to Israel.”
Israeli Olympic Committee CEO Gilad Lustig congratulated Dolgopyat on winning a silver medal, telling Ynet that “it’s a dream weekend, but we always remember the hostages. Everywhere they are with us. We always believed in the goals we set.”
Dolgopyat’s coach said that the silver medal-winning gymnast will continue to train for the next Olympics in Los Angeles in 2028, Ynet reported.
Jerusalem Post Staff and Reuters contributed to this report.
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