Israel Active

Israeli artistic gymnast Artem Dolgopyat made history when he won Israel’s first Tokyo Olympics gold medal, and first gymnastic medal, in the men’s floor exercise. Then Israel’s Linoy Ashram won the individual all-around gold medal in the women’s artistic gymnastics final.

Diplomatic guests from Nigeria, Kosovo, Nepal, Russian Federation, and Serbia joined patrons at Jerusalem’s Bible Lands Museum for the gala opening of its exhibit 'Early birds soaring with the Ancients'. It follows the myths and stories of the human desire to fly like the birds.

As previously reported , the scheduled French Champions Trophy (Trophee des Champions) season curtain raiser took place at Bloomfield Stadium Tel Aviv in front of a sell-out crowd of 29,000 spectators.  French champions Lille beat Cup winners Paris Saint-Germain 1-0.

Fascinating article describing Israeli surfer Anat Lelior’s journey from the beaches of Tel Aviv to the Tokyo Olympics.

The Israeli judo team won the Olympic bronze medal in the mixed-team judo event. Meanwhile, Iranian judoka Saeid Mollaei (now competing for Mongolia) dedicated his Olympic silver medal to the State of Israel. Plus, an Iranian judo champion and Israel’s judo coach issued a video of sporting friendship.

Israel’s Tadmor Entertainment is to make a TV series for MGM about ex-Iranian judoka Saeid Mollaei (see previously and below) who rejected Iran’s demand to avoid a contest with his Israeli friend Sagi Muki.  It is MGM’s second project with Tadmor.

Israel’s Rafael Skorka reached the semi-finals (last eight from 26) of this year’s prestigious Cleveland International Piano Competition.   

Israel’s Karmiel Festival showed that life is returning to normal in Israel. It was the first big dance festival since Covid-19 forced closure of almost all Israeli cultural events. The 3-day event included public workshops and showed that performers were eager to make up lost time on stage.

In celebrating 100 years since the birth of Jewish war hero and poet Hannah Senesh (Szenes), the National Library of Israel has digitized dozens of items from her recently acquired archive. They include her poems, manuscripts, correspondence, notebooks, photos and documents.

Avishag Samberg won Israel’s first medal of the 2020 / 21 Olympic Games. She took the bronze in the under-49kg Taekwondo event. At 19 years old, she is Israel’s youngest Olympic medal winner. Israel has won nine medals at previous Olympics at Judo, windsurfing and kayaks sports events.