Yam Volchek was yesterday (Thursday), only one fight away from winning a bronze medal at the World Championships being held in Tashkent, when he eventually finished in fifth place, which is considered one of Israel's greatest achievements in this competition, for a 19-year-old athlete.
But all this happened, perhaps in the most difficult month of Volchak's life.
At the beginning of September, Amir Klein, who raised him and nurtured him from the first day on the mat, at the 'Rack' judo club in Pardes Hana, died under tragic circumstances at the age of only 38, leaving everyone shocked at his passing.
Yam received the hard news while he was with the team at a training camp in Georgia, where everyone who knew him was shocked, but the young athlete, for whom Amir was like a young father, was very upset and took it very hard.
Yam with the late Amir and his wife, photo: Private
During the camp, Yam found it difficult to continue training, but with the help of the men's team coach Oren Samadja, the staff around him and the members of the team, he had to recover quickly, and just a few days later he arrived at the European Youth Championships in Prague.
In the championship itself, Volchek finished on the podium, and won the bronze medal which he dedicated to his beloved coach and also took with him a framed photo of Amir, with which he made sure to pose.
He made his way to the Yam team only a few months ago, perhaps even in Amir's last will, who turned to Smedja and asked to add Volchek to the team, to give him the professional and financial envelope and to realize the potential inherent in the young athlete he raised and educated.
"When Amir came to me for the first time for a meeting, I saw an introverted and quiet man," Samadja recalls.
"He spoke at eye level and all he was interested in was taking care of the sea, that he would have the best possible conditions, which he cannot usually be given in the personal club.
"When we received the hard news, you could see how upset Yam was and the pain on his face. At the European Youth Championship, you could see how much he was there with him at every moment. He came from a club that raised the best athletes in the sport in the north," Samedja shared.
Yam with Amir's photo at the European Youth Championship,
"I will do everything to help and support the family and the club, Yam is the only one from Europe in the top five in the world, and he has another year of junior. The one who gave the push and the belief that this is an excellent athlete is Golan Polak, the youth coach, who saw the potential in him in recent years and is doing an amazing job. You see There is a next generation."
Do you really think putting in the team was part of Amir's will?
"It seems to me that he made ends meet before his act. He came and only talked about Yam, told how amazing the boy is. I'm sure Shim takes him to every fight and does it for him as well."
And how much potential is there in the sea?
"We saw now at the world championships that he shows everyone that he is not afraid of anything, and even at 27 years of age to give them the belief that it is possible to win medals. At the age of 19, he already reached the battle for a medal and that is one of the greatest achievements."
If all this is not enough, then it recently became clear that the club where Yam grew up, 'Rak' (acronym for Racheli Amir Klein, A.A.), is in financial difficulties, while the late Amir's wife, Racheli, runs it alone, while she is also Advanced pregnancy.
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