The sprinter Blessing Afripa, tonight (between Thursday and Friday) made one of the greatest achievements in the history of Israeli athletics, when he won the gold medal at the under-20 world championships held in Santiago de Cali, Colombia.
The 18-year-old Afrifa entered a distinguished list of male and female athletes who broke through in the industry and reached the highest levels with achievements and medals in the most important events, when he can already be marked as one of the candidates for the Olympic final in Paris in two years - and perhaps as a candidate for a medal.
The person who obviously put Israel on the map for the first time was Esther Roth Shahmarov, who at the 1976 Montreal Olympics finished sixth in the 100-meter hurdles, thus becoming the first Israeli athlete to participate in any Olympic final.
Shakhamorov with Diana Wiseman.
The heir?, Photo: Alan Shiver
In the 1972 Munich Olympics, Shakhamorov qualified for the semifinals in the 100-meter dash and finished in fifth place, when she also advanced to the 100-meter hurdles semifinals, but following the massacre of the athletes at this Olympics in which her personal trainer Amitsur Shapira was murdered, she withdrew from the competition.
It took 20 years, until the pole vaulters Danny Krasnov and Alex Aberbuch arrived, who were able to achieve unprecedented achievements that did not exist before, when Krasnov was the first Israeli athlete to participate in an Olympic final, while Aberbuch also reached the podiums with the silver (2001) and bronze (1999) at the World Championships and a double win in the European Championship (2002 and 2006).
Aberbuch
Brought a lot of respect, photo: AP
The high jumper Konstantin Matusevich also has many shares in the industry, when he was a touch away from an Olympic medal when he finished fifth in Sydney 2000.
The "new" generation of athletics in blue and white was opened by Hana Kneizeva Minenko, who until 2012 represented Ukraine, but after moving to Israel added to her resume the runners-up of the World Championships in Beijing 2015, the runner-up of the European Championships in Amsterdam 2016, third in the European Indoor Championships in Prague 2015, and the finals The Olympics where she was ranked fifth in Rio 2016 and sixth in Tokyo 2020.
Minenko.
Leading the new generation, photo: Alan Shiver
The one who leads in achievements in recent years in the long runs is of course Luna Chamtai Salpeter, who only a month ago stunned Israel's Shiani with the bronze medal at the World Championships in the United States in the marathon, with her resume also having the title of European Champion in the 10,000 meters in Berlin 2018.
In addition, quite a few names like Diana Weissman, Noam Memo, Yonatan Kapitolnik and others have emerged here in recent times, who also manage to get on the podium and break records, but what Afripa did tonight, gives him the stamp as the greatest sprinter that was here, and we will hear a lot more about him in recent years .
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