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Israel’s largest ever team to compete in Rio Olympics
Israel’s largest ever Olympic team is preparing to compete in the Rio Olympics, which will open tonight.
Forty seven Israeli athletes will compete in 17 sports including wrestling, judo, tennis, gymnastics and swimming. Israeli athletes will debut in golf, triathlon and mountain biking events.
Rhythmic gymnast Neta Rivkin will be Israel’s participant in the opening ceremony. However, because the event takes place on the Jewish Sabbath, Israeli president Reuven Rivlin and Culture Minister Miri Regev will not be attending the opening.
Other Israeli Olympians in Rio include Lonah Chemtai, a marathon runner of Kenyan origin, and golfer Laetitia Beck, who is the granddaughter of a Holocaust survivor.
For the first time, an official International Olympic Committee (IOC) commemoration ceremony will remember the victims of the 1972 Munich Olympics massacre, where 11 Israeli athletes and a German police officer were killed by the Palestinian Black September group. Attempts to hold memorials have previously been blocked by the IOC, despite a big public campaign for a commemoration during the London 2012 Olympics.
Israel has competed in 16 Olympic Games but has only won seven medals in three sports: judo, canoeing and sailing. Its one gold medal was won by windsurfer Gal Fridman in the Athens Olympics in 2004.