BICOM

Israel celebrated last night the country’s first medal of these Olympic games.

Olympic judoka Yarden Gerbi beat Japanese opponent Miko Tashiro by inflicting on her a Waza-ari and a Yuko in her bronze medal fight. Tashiro did not manage to score any points against Gerbi.

Visibly emotional and teary, Gerbi told Israeli media: “I’m here to win, to give my heart and soul, and I still can’t believe it. Someone wake me up, I can’t believe it. My dream has come true. They say Israelis don’t have the character (to succeed in sports on the world stage) but we do have the character. I gave my life. It paid off. Whoever says Israelis can’t succeed is wrong. It does happen. It does happen.”

President Reuven Rivlin immediately called Gerbi to congratulate her. He said: “All the people here in Israel are excited together with you. We all held our breath and prayed for your success but at the end of the day the one who did it was you, you are simply our champion. Well done. Today you are our heroine.”

She was also greeted by Culture Minister Miri Regev, who is in Rio with the Olympic delegation. Israeli politicians across the board tweeted their praise and congratulations, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

He wrote: “Congratulations, you played it big time. We are all proud of you, you gave the whole country a wonderful feeling. Really, it’s a great achievement.”

Gerbi, the 2013 judo world champion in her weight category, lost a close fight against a Brazilian opponent that went into stalemate, denying her a chance to compete for the gold and silver medals.

Other Israeli athletes fared less well. Air rifle shooter Sergy Rikhter, swimmers Amit Ivri and Yakov Toumarkin, and judoka Shira Rishoni failed to make it into the finals.

Gerbi won Israel’s eighth Olympic medal ever, becoming its seventh athlete and only the second Israeli woman to win a medal. Israel won its first Olympic medal in 1992, also in judo. Its only gold medal was in the 2004 Athens Olympics, won by windsurfer Gal Fridman.