Israel's judo team celebrated a historic day on Friday in which two athletes in blue and white rose to receive medals, after the gold of Inbar Lanir (up to 78 kg) and the bronze of Peter Palchik (up to 100 kg). The person who was obviously pleased was the chairman of the association, Moshe Ponti, who also received the honor from the organizers to award Lanir the medal.
Inbar Lanir World Champion | Oren Aharoni
"I always believe," Ponti tells Israel Hayom, "but sometimes you start well and it still doesn't work. In Inbar's case, I knew she was an athlete who surprised both ways – she could win with light turnovers, but she could also fly easily. Today what we saw was that she worked so right and didn't let the top athletes beat her."
"When I saw that she was against their exercises, she outdid herself and did it big time and really well done to them, it's a historic day with two medals at the World Championships, and we're so happy to do it in these difficult days that our country is going through. Also well done to the team headed by Shani Hershko, who this is the second time he has led an athlete to the title of world champion, which is an unprecedented achievement in itself. He did a great job and they built a perfect day here. Peter also faced a tough draw and difficult battles and managed to come out with a medal from the World Championships, and Oren and the team deserve compliments as well. A huge day for our judo," Ponti added.
Ponti with Lanir at the medal ceremony, photo: Oren Aharoni
How important was it for you to hear the anthem here?
"It's the most important, the most exciting and the biggest thing. That Israel is the first time here at a world championship and to raise the flag here and hear the anthem, I'm so happy and happy."
What conclusions do you have from this week?
"I'm happy with the national team. It should be noted that all the fights ended with a gold score and not in the first four minutes. Everyone fought and gave everything and we still had Sagi Muki who was ranked fifth and Gefen Primo seventh, who could also finish on the podium."
Still, they all competed here under difficult conditions
"In the early days there was a really bad atmosphere with the Palestinian flag and the calls to 'liberate Palestine,' but I went to whoever had to go and in the end they took them out and it stopped. When I said they brought one flag, I would bring ten."
Phonetic (left). "I did what was necessary",
What should be done now until the Paris Olympics?
"You have to work hard but also train properly. Do things that will expand your abilities to last a full four minutes and then know how to win, because we saw Inbal Shemesh who did a fight for almost 13 minutes and then ended up losing. Sagi also had a hard time after 4-5 minutes, but he still did something crazy and he's a winner who doesn't want to lose, despite all the exhaustion and fatigue, and he pleasantly surprised me."
In the end, are you satisfied with the championship?
"We have maintained a tradition since 2019, and even before that we saw achievements such as Golan Pollak and Tal Flicker. It doesn't happen to many countries, so you can't not be satisfied and there's still another day of competition ahead of us."
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