Fencer Yuval Freilich won the gold medal at the Qatar Grand Prix yesterday (Wednesday), and took a significant step towards his entry into the Olympic Games in Paris, as he is expected to be the first Israeli athlete in the sport to do so since the Olympic Games in Beijing 2008.
The 29-year-old Freilich, who on the way to the great achievement defeated the Olympic champions from Tokyo 2020 and Rio 2016, has 3 more competitions left until the closing of the criterion, but the last achievement will put him in the top 16 in the world, which will also help him in the draws and another scoring achievement.
Yuval Freilich Grand Prix Qatar champion in fencing // Credit: FIE
But even before he gets there, the talented Israeli fencer took the podium precisely in Qatar, the country that financed Hamas over the years, and continues to give shelter to its leaders: "My phone is exploding with messages, for good reasons of course," Freilich tells Israel Hayom: "There were I had two very good days, a very accurate and very calm fencer, I was free. It is a combination of many hours of work, both physically and mentally, with a team of very good people who are with me on this path."
And beating the world's top like that is no small feat
"At the end of the day we are athletes and face our opponents. The abilities are there and it didn't surprise me and the team and good things have been said to me in the past and I'm glad it happened today here in Qatar."
Standing on the podium in Qatar is more exciting?
"There is always a motivation to win, and it is important for me to give credit to the professional team that has accompanied me throughout the years, the fact that things came together in Qatar, I don't know if it is a coincidence or not, it is something that needs to be thought about. The fact that it is in Qatar makes it interesting for the reasons we know, but in a period This, even if it happened in Canada, it makes it more special."
Freilich.
Much respect, photo: team Bizzi
"In the end what we do is sport, it's what we love."
Froelich continued: "I hope that this result, that they played the anthem here, gives a little comfort to the people, in humility, I bow my head. The fact that we have brave, heroic soldiers who are now fighting on all fronts and enable us, the athletes, to do what we do, that is the important thing , we are not the story here."
National coach Alexander Ivanov added: "It was a crazy day for Yuval, he passed Olympic champions, world champions, when we know he is a very strong fencer and he is always strong at the top, when the opponents also know it. He is a fencer worth gold, but there are many strong fencers. He has A lot of motivation, regardless of whether it's Qatar or somewhere else, but he understands where he is and that also sharpens him. Until March, when the criterion will be determined, there is still a lot of work."
Gili Lustig, CEO of the Israel Olympic Committee: "Fencer Yuval Freilich made an impressive achievement in a very high world level tournament and is very close to achieving the criteria for the Olympics in Paris, which is a huge success.
The success on the soil of Qatar and the raising of the Israeli flag these days on a unique stage is Israeli pride at its best.
In recent years, together with the Fencing Association, the Ministry of Sports and the Unit for Sports Achievements, we have made a huge investment in the industry and I am happy about the significant sporting achievement that will return the industry to the Olympic Games after an absence of 16 years."
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Freilich and the Israeli team, photo: team Bizzi
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