Tokyo 2020 Olympics
Opinions and interpretations
On the whole box office: Omar Shapira's wonderful race analysis
She played with the craziest cards there can be and almost recorded the most amazing achievement in the history of Israeli sports.
Danny Borszewski, Walla!'S Olympic commentator
Sports, sums up the daring gamble of the anonymous road bike rider that almost ended with a medal
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Omar Shapira
Danny Borszewski
Sunday, 25 July 2021, 13:00 Updated: 15:03
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Austrian cyclist Anna Kisenhofer entered the pantheon of road racing in the history of the Olympic Games today (Sunday) for two reasons.
1. She came to the grueling race around Mount Fuji when she was pretty anonymous.
2. She defeated him and the best riders in the world thanks to an escape, first with 4 more riders and then in a solo ride of tens of kilometers.
That is, most of the time she worked harder than the other two medalists, maybe 25-30 percent harder.
All of this would probably pass us by in games where so many things happen in so many industries.
But Omar Shapira, who has completely dominated the bicycle industry in Israel in recent years, was so close to her own Cinderella-style Cinderella story.
More on Walla!
After a wonderful race: Cyclist Omar Shapira finished in 24th place
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Full of appreciation.
Omar Shapira (Photo: AP, Thibault Camus)
Shapira, who in her professional routine rides in the uniform of the German team "Kenyon-Saram", knows the top riders in the world closely but does not yet belong to it. That's exactly why she did what she did today - and what she did today was crazy. In a 137-kilometer race, she did the bravest act imaginable and set out for an escape group from the platoon (stuck by most riders) about 100 miles to finish the same escape group that included Shapira and 4 other riders opened a 10-minute gap on the platoon.
One can look at such a daring act in two forms. 1. A completely crazy act knowing that Pluto has better riders who throughout most of the race will save more energy and get fresher to the last few miles where they will be able to narrow the gap. 2. A bold but sensible act for riders who know they are not fast enough to face the best in the world in the last few kilometers, so they go all the way, all in, and whatever it is - what is certain is that they will strive in this race more than ever throughout their careers .
Omar Shapira came from the Olympic Village after Avishag Samberg's magnificent bronze medal. She knew that the atmosphere in the Israeli camp was calm, that everyone today is looking at judo in pursuit of a second medal and from which they do not expect too much - at most screwing up in the top half of the 67 riders who participated. With this calm and quiet one can start dreaming.
The race progressed and Shapira only looked better in the escape group, from which two riders dropped out and she stayed there with the wonderful Austrian and Anna Plicetta of Poland.
In the end the winning move which was also one of the most amazing moves seen this year in world road races was that of Kisenhofer who escaped to Shapira and Felicta while ascending more than 40 kilometers to the finish.
From the other side the platoon began to close a gap gradually and only 4.5 miles to the finish, on the Fuji racetrack, which Shapira was caught by.
She finished in 24th place which is a respectable achievement in itself, even beyond the expectations of many people.
But that amazing victory of Kisenhofer proved that if there is one thing Shapiro did today, it is the right thing to do.
More on Walla!
After a wonderful race: Cyclist Omar Shapira finished in 24th place
A piece of race.
Omar Shapira between Kisenhofer and Felicata (Photo: Reuters)
Although she did not win an Olympic medal that could have become perhaps the most amazing achievement in the history of Israeli sports, she proved that she did not get as far as Tokyo for a respectable performance. She came here to win a medal and play with the craziest cards there can be. The world's largest bicycle races, such as the Tour de France or the Giro, also have a daily award for offensive ability and daring for riders. So in the case of the women's race at the Tokyo Games of course this award goes to the winner, but in a few years, when we look at Tokyo 2020 and remember only the Israeli medalists and Corona, it will be worth remembering the Israeli cyclist who came out of nowhere and won a medal. She tried her best and also took out the forces we are not aware of, it was almost enough.
And we will not leave here with a sense of almost.
We will leave with a feeling that this almost will teach many other Israeli athletes that they can do things that no one imagined even if they are underdogs and this almost will also bring in the future Omar Shapira or any Israeli athlete after almost unprecedented achievements like what we saw today.
The truth is almost not, because what Omar Shapira did today was truly unprecedented.
Danny Borszewski is an athletics commentator on the sports channel and Schwang.
Formerly a Walla!
And Walla messenger!
Sports for the Olympic Games in Beijing and London
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