The Olympics bring together the world’s best athletes for an incredible display of competition and sportsmanship. This year’s Summer Games will be held in Paris, featuring over 10,500 athletes and drawing over 3 million spectators. The festivities kick off on Friday, July 26, and will close on Sunday, August 11.
With around 200 nations taking part in 329 events, dozens of Jewish athletes will compete on the world’s biggest stage, many of whom are strong contenders for medals in their respective disciplines. This year, the crop of Jewish athletes includes both returning Olympians and previous medalists.
Despite some calls for Israel to be barred from the Olympics, the Blue-and-White will proudly participate once again, bringing the largest Jewish delegation of any country.
Before the games begin, take a moment to get to know some of the top Jewish athletes competing at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Artem Dolgopyat
Israel’s first gold medalist in gymnastics, Ukrainian-born Artem Dolgopyat, is poised for another victory in Paris.
Dolgopyat made history at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, triumphing over his favored Russian competitor in the floor exercise in a moment that is highly celebrated by the Israeli and Ukrainian communities.
At 27 years old, Dolgopyat is the reigning 2023 World Artistic Gymnastics champion, the 2022 European Artistic Gymnastics champion, and a two-time Maccabiah Games gold medalist. Dolgopyat won his first world championship on Oct. 7, learning of the attack on Israel when he woke that morning for competition.
“I fulfilled my dream of getting the three gold medals from the biggest competitions [Euros, Worlds, and Olympics] and I can’t process it because I can’t really be happy. It’s a different situation. It’s hard for me to think about it. I still have some hope in my mind that in a few days, it will be over and I might be able to be happy,” he said to the media following his victory.
Read more: The untold story of Jews and soccer
Israel’s men’s soccer team
Ending a five-decade drought, Israel’s men soccer team will return to the Olympics for the first time since 1976.
The promising young team qualified for the Summer Games by advancing to the semifinals of last summer’s UEFA European U-21 Championship.
Recently, the Blue-and-White have been making waves in the soccer world, securing a third-place finish at the FIFA U-20 World Cup last year and defeating football powerhouse Brazil in the process.
This national team boasts a plethora of players from professional leagues from around the world, including star goalie Daniel Peretz, 24, who plays for Bayern Munich in Germany’s top league, the Bundesliga.
Israel has a strong shot at advancing past the group stage, where it will compete against Paraguay, Japan, and Mali.
Claire Weinstein
One of Team USA’s youngest athletes, 17-year-old Claire Weinstein is a rising star in the swimming world.
Weinstein placed second in the 200-meter freestyle at the Olympic trials, just behind Katie Ledecky. Impressively, she previously defeated the seven-time Olympic champion at the 2023 U.S. championships.
In Paris, Weinstein will compete in the 200m event and join the United States’ 4x200m relay team — the same event in which she earned a gold medal during the World Aquatics Championships in Budapest.
The New Yorker, who celebrated her bat mitzvah at Reform synagogue Congregation Kol Ami in White Plains, combined her love for the pool and her Judaism for her bat mitzvah project. She volunteered as a swim coach at Westchester Aquatic swim club and donated money to an organization that provides training fees and competition funding to low-income swimmers.
“Because of her passion for the sport and belief that everyone should learn to swim and have the opportunity to be a competitive swimmer if they desire, on her behalf a donation was made to the Christopher Dewey Memorial Swim Foundation,” her bat mitzvah announcement said. “Her donation will assist low income swimmers with training fees and also fees to participate in travel competitions.”
Following her trip to the Olympics, Weinstein will swim for the University of California, Berkeley.
Adam Mara’ana
Fellow swimmer Adam Mara’ana is set to make history with his Olympic debut. When he competes in the 100-meter backstroke, the 21-year-old will become the first Arab Israeli to represent Israel at the Olympic Games since 1976. Earlier this year, Mara’ana matched the Israeli record in this event.
“My mother is Jewish, I served in the army, studied Torah, celebrated bar mitzvah, and my father is an Arab Muslim,” the Haifa native told the New York Post in June. “I’m very proud of it and he’s very proud of me.”
The self-proclaimed “mini-ambassador” for Arab-Israeli relations has already made a mark by winning bronze medals at the 2019 European Youth Olympics and the 2023 European U-23 Championship in his signature event.
In the fall, Mara’ana will begin swimming at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
The Israeli rhythmic gymnastics team
Israel’s rhythmic gymnastics team is ready for greatness at the Summer Games.
After taking home the nation’s first gold medals at the 2023 World Rhythmic Gymnastics Championships in Valencia, Spain, strong results are expected from the four-woman team. The Israelis also triumphed at the 2022 Rhythmic Gymnastics European Championships held in Tel Aviv.
Yael Arad, the Olympic medalist and chair of Israel’s Olympic Committee, described the world championship victory in an Instagram post as a “distilled moment of supreme happiness behind which there are so many pit stops and thousands of hours of training.”
Rhythmic gymnastics, which includes hoop, ball, clubs, ribbon, and rope events, blends artistic gymnastics (think Simone Biles and Jewish gold medalist Aly Raisman) with dance-like rhythms and the use of equipment.
Team Israel is led by 20-year-old captain Romi Paritzki and includes Diana Svertsov, 19; Adar Friedmann, 17; Ofir Shaham, 19; and Shani Bakanov, 18.
Also expect great results from 18-year-old Daria Atamanov, who is competing in the individual rhythmic gymnastic event for Israel. Atamanov is the 2023 World Champion All-Around bronze medalist, the 2022 European All-Around champion, and the reigning Israeli national all-around champion.
Jessica Fox
Five-time Olympic medalist Jessica Fox is returning for her fourth Games, aiming to expand her hardware collection. The 30-year-old Aussie previously clinched one gold, one silver and two bronze medals in canoe paddling.
Fox, highly revered as an individual paddler, made history in Tokyo by becoming the first woman to win gold in canoe slalom. The daughter of two Olympic paddlers — her French-Jewish mother, who is also her coach, and her British-Jewish father — Fox has been a passionate advocate for women’s competition in the sport.
In recognition of her achievements, Fox was named Jewish Sportswoman of the Year by Maccabi Australia in 2014.
Her younger sister, Noemie Fox, 27, will make her Olympic debut in a new event at the Paris Games: the women’s kayak cross event.
Ezra Frech
Track and field Paralympic athlete Ezra Frech will represent the U.S. again in Paris. The 19-year-old Persian Jew will compete in the high jump, long jump, and 100-meter dash.
Frech is a double silver medalist from the Parapan American Games and earned a silver medal at the 2024 World Championships. At the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics, the Los Angeles native finished fifth in the high jump.
Three years later, at the 2023 Para Athletics World Championship in Paris, Frech set a world record in the high jump, earning him a gold medal.
A passionate disability rights activist, Frech was born without most of his left leg and missing fingers on his left hand. He has used a prosthetic leg since he was 11 months old. In 2006, his family founded Team Ezra, which helps fund organizations that aid people with physical disabilities. Five years later, Frech and his father created Angel City Sports, providing free year-round competitive opportunities, training, and equipment for those with disabilities.
Frech began his career as a motivational speaker at the age of four, advocating for people with physical disabilities. He is featured in the new book “What Jewish Looks Like,” which celebrates Jewish heroes across various fields.
Frech will be the first above-the-knee amputee to compete in NCAA track and field when he begins competing with the University of Southern California in the fall.
Israel’s judo team
If there’s one sport where expectations for Israel are high, it’s judo. Of the nation’s 13 Olympic medals, six come from judo — including Israel’s first from the 1992 Barcelona Olympics.
One athlete to watch is 32-year-old Sagi Muki. Muki clinched gold at the 2022 World Judo Championships, multiple grand prix and grand slams, and was a key player on the Israeli team that earned a bronze medal at the 2020 Olympics.
Inbar Lanir, the 24-year-old judoka and current world champion, captured gold at the 2023 World Judo Championships in the women’s under-79kg event. That same year, she was named the 2023 European Judo Union European Athlete of the Year and received similar honors at the World Masters tournament and Ulaanbaatar Grand Slam.
Similarly, the stakes are high for 25-year-old Raz Hershko, who claimed her first-ever first-place finish at the 2023 European Judo Championships in the women’s over-78 kg category. She dedicated that win to former national Israeli judo team member Yonatan Goutin, who was killed fighting Hamas Oct. 7 in Kibbutz Be’eri.
Amit Elor
The United States’ youngest female wrestler in history, Israeli-American Amit Elor, will make her debut in Paris in the 68 kg category. Elor, whose parents immigrated to the U.S. from Israel, is already a two-time world champion and currently the top wrestler in her weight class.
Elor earned the title of youngest senior world champion in U.S. history at the age of 18 in 2022. She also won gold medals at the 2022 and 2023 U23 World Championships, three consecutive Junior World Championships from 2021 to 2023, and the 2023 Pan American Championships.
Elor has often expressed her love for Israel in interviews over the years.
“My parents came to the US in the 1980s from Israel to go to school. But the rest of my family is in Israel. So I would always go during the summers to visit my grandma. “And whenever I was there I would wrestle in the local club, I also did some judo. I have been going to Israel pretty often,“ Elor told The Jerusalem Post in 2022.
“I love Israel. And, in some ways, I feel like I am representing them also, but I was born in the US and raised there,” she added.
Maru Teferi and Lonah Chemtai Salpeter
Returning for his third Olympics, Maru Teferi will represent Israel in the marathon.
The 31-year-old marathon and half-marathon runner achieved Israel’s best-ever finish in the event by coming 13th out of 106 athletes in Tokyo. He secured second place at the 2023 World Athletic Championships and claimed a gold and a silver medal at the 2022 European Athletics Championships, along with a silver medal at this year’s European championship.
Born in Ethiopia, Teferi came sixth at the 2023 New York City Marathon. After the event, he stated his goal is to “run for the Israeli flag; it’s a responsibility for me.”
On the women’s side Kenya-born Lonah Chemtai Salpeter will also be participating in her third Olympics in marathon.
Salpeter, 35, took the top prize in the 10,000-meter event at the 2018 European Athletics Championships and earned a bronze medal in the same event in 2022. That same year, she also came third at the 2022 World Athletics Championships.
An accomplished marathon runner, Salpeter won a gold medal at the 2020 Tokyo Marathon, a silver medal at the 2022 New York City Marathon, and a bronze medal at the 2023 Boston Marathon.
Salpeter moved to Israel in 2008, receiving her citizenship in 2016 after marrying her coach, Dan Salpeter.
Avishag Semberg
The youngest Israeli athlete to ever win an Olympic medal, Avishag Semberg will return to the women’s 49kg taekwondo event at this summer’s Olympics.
The bronze medalist secured first place at the 2024 European Taekwondo Qualification Tournament in Sofia, Bulgaria, in March 2024 and is a favorite to once again reach the podium
American and Israeli fencing stars
College foil fencer Maia Weintraub, 21, will make her Olympic debut in Paris after being named an alternate for the 2021 Olympics.
Weintraub enters the Games as a two-time U.S. national champion, Junior Olympics champion, and three-time World Championship medalist. The No. 13 fencer is also an NCAA champion and a European Maccabi Games gold medalist.
American foil fencer Nick Itkin is expected to make waves in Paris. Ranked No. 2 in the world, Itkin won a bronze medal in Tokyo and has continued to achieve success on the strip.
The five-time U.S. national champion has earned three World Championship medals in foil. He was the World Cup victor in 2020 and 2023, Pan American Cup gold medalist in 2019, 2022, 2023, and 2024, and the 2024 Grand Prix champion.
Saber fencer Eli Dershwitz, the grandson of two Holocaust survivors, will join Itkin on the U.S. team. The world No. 3 previously competed for Team USA in Tokyo and at the 2014 Rio Olympics. He is the first American man to win a World Championship in saber, claiming that honor in 2023.
The 28-year-old is a five-time World Cup gold medalist, a 13-time Pan American Cup gold medalist, and won two gold medals at the 2017 Maccabiah Games.
Yuval Freilich, 29, will represent Israel in épée, a fencing form with a larger target area and weapon. He is Israel’s first fencer to qualify for an Olympic Games since 2008.
Freilich made headlines in January after earning a gold medal at the Doha Grand Prix in Qatar, marking the first time “Hatikva” was played in the country. He also holds the distinction of being the first Israeli to win the European Fencing Championship, achieving that title in 2019.
Ian Seidenfeld
U.S. table tennis phenom Ian Seidenfeld, 23, is hoping to replicate his success at the 2020 Paralympics this summer. The gold medalist had a Cinderella run in Tokyo, unseating the reigning champion to claim the top prize.
Seidenfeld also has the distinction of being the 2019 and 2023 Parapan American Games victor.
He is a second-generation table tennis success story, coached by his father, Mitchell Seidenfeld, who was also an Olympic gold medalist in table tennis. Both father and son were born with pseudoachondroplasia, a growth disorder that causes short stature.
Originally Published Jul 15, 2024 02:58PM EDT
