Israel’s rhythmic gymnastics team wins silver at the 2024 Paris Olympics – Israel Sports

Israel added another medal to its impressive tally at the Paris Olympics. The rhythmic gymnastics team claimed silver for the country’s seventh medal with a stellar performance in the all-around group after qualifying for the final on Friday.

Coach Ayelet Zussman spoke about the team’s performance: “How did we do it? With the love for the sport, with the great coaching staff and by working hard together. Linoy Ashram had a huge impact on rhythmic gymnastics and she had five incredible years where she was consistently at the top, so we knew she was a contender for a medal at the last Olympics. The same goes for this team, which has been at the top for the last three years and here they did it.”

“When they finished their last rotation, I knew there was a big chance that we would win a medal. I’m happy, I’m proud to see all the people who cheered us on and were excited for us. When we are together, it gives us the strength to achieve everything we want to achieve,” the coach concluded.

The team of Ofir Shaham, Diana Svertsov, Adar Friedmann, Romi Paritzki and Shani Bakanov scored 35.600 in 5 Hoops for 5th place and 33.250 in 3 Ribbons and 2 Balls for 2nd place, giving them a total score of 68.850. This placed them just behind China, who won gold with a score of 69.800, and ahead of Italy, who scored 68.100.

The most important score for the blue-whites was in the 3 Ribbons and 2 Balls. That was a big improvement on Friday’s qualifying score of 31.900. With that they finished ahead of Italy and took home the silver medal.

– Rhythmic gymnastics – All-around group final – Porte de La Chapelle Arena, Paris, France – August 10, 2024. The gold medalists of the People’s Republic of China team, the silver medalists of the Israel team and the bronze medalists of the Italy team on the podium. (Photo: MIKE BLAKE/REUTERS)

Paritzki, who will be the flag bearer at the closing ceremony, discussed the achievement: “I can’t describe our feelings. This is the highlight of our careers. I am grateful that we had this experience together. When we finished the first rotation, we weren’t sure how we had done it, but Ayelet calmly told us to forget what was there, focus on what was coming, go out there and make history. When we saw that we were in second place, I realized how great an honor it was. Ayelet is a unique coach, she was our mother and it’s all thanks to her.”

Celebrating the victory and the hard work that has brought it

After winning silver, the other gymnasts also spoke, starting with Shani Bakanov: “We worked hard and after the first rotation we had to reset and do the second rotation as well as possible to get on the podium. The coaching staff helped us with that and there were a lot of tears of joy.”

“I’m shocked,” added Diana Svertsov. “I was so excited to see that we were in second place. It’s a dream come true to be here, but to win a silver medal is incredible. I can’t believe how amazing and what a great honor this is. We are all different and we complete each other like a puzzle. We came together and together we won.”

Adar Friedmann added: “The most stressful moments in my life were when we were waiting.

“It was difficult and nerve-wracking for us, it was a battle from the very first moment. Our secret? We work together as a family and take care of each other. It’s a historic and crazy achievement, we didn’t expect it and it blew our minds.”

Ofir Shaham shared her feelings: “I am shocked, I can’t speak, I have no words. It was unbelievable. We waited and worked so hard for this moment. At the end of the second exercise we knew it was over and we waited for the score, we are grateful that we won a medal. Without the team this would not have been possible. The audience was crazy. My cheeks hurt from laughing.”

Israeli Olympic Committee CEO Gili Lustig added: “We won 7 medals after what happened to us as a country on October 7. Right now we are here, on the map, with a stand full of Israelis with blue and white flags. This is the victory over what happened to us on October 7. We were all on a mission and there is nothing more symbolic than that.”

In the men’s marathon, Maru Teferi finished 26th, Gashau Ayale 35th and Girmaw Amare 44th.

“A marathon is a marathon,” Teferi said. “Sometimes you plan and the opposite of what you planned happens. What you plan doesn’t always happen and that’s what happened. I’m happy to have finished and representing the country is also my honor.”

The artistic swimming duo Shelly Bobritsky and Ariel Nassee finished the Duet Technical Routine in 9th place with a score of 243.0666 and a score of 239.3416 in the Duet Free Routine. This resulted in a total of 482.4082, good for 9th place at the end of the competition.

In cycling, the men’s Keirin event, Mikhail Yakovlev reached the quarterfinals on Sunday after finishing first in his heat, and could secure another medal for Israel.

On Friday, Israelis were busy with rhythmic gymnastics and in the Seine River.

Daria Atamanv took to the mat for the rhythmic gymnastics individual all-around qualification and completed the Hoop routine with a score of 35.200, which placed her in fifth place after the first rotation. Next up was Ball with a score of 31.800 for ninth place and in Clubs she achieved a score of 33.850, which was good for seventh place.

In Atamanov’s final rotation, Ribbon, she scored a stellar 33.000 and finished the competition with a total of 133.850, good for fifth place overall. While it wasn’t good enough for a podium spot, it’s clear that the 18-year-old will be a threat at the Los Angeles Olympics scheduled for 2028.

“I gave it my all and did everything I could,” said an emotional Atamanov, who struggled to speak at the end. “There was nothing going through my mind after I dropped the ball, I just had to continue with the exercises as best I could. There’s no time to think about it. You just keep going.”

“I had a tough year with an injury, without proper training and competitions, but that is also what made me stronger,” she added. “I hope I was able to inspire and that people are proud of me.”

Her coach, Ayelet Zussman, agreed.

“Daria is a super talent; the talent just oozes from her. She works hard. I have no doubt that she could have achieved more if she had not been injured. I am proud of her performance and how she fought.”

Earlier in the day, Matan Roditi finished 16th in the men’s 10 km marathon swim with a time of 1:57:02 hours, an event in which he finished fourth at the Tokyo Olympics.

“It was over pretty quickly when I realized I had to try to fight the situation I was in,” Roditi said after the race. “I stayed strong and tried to finish as strong as possible. I kind of expected such a challenge, I knew there were different rules here, swimming with the current or against the current, that’s something that changes the game. I knew that almost everything would be decided in the first 600 meters and the beginning of the race, and that’s not where my strengths lie.

“I feel like I’ve been preparing for this for three years,” Roditi continued. “In terms of a 10K open water swim, my capabilities were there, also in terms of strength and I had it, but it was over pretty quickly in the first 600 meters. I knew I had to give all my strength there, it wasn’t enough. From that moment on, it was pretty much over for me to fight for the top six or top eight.”

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Israel’s rhythmic gymnastics team wins silver at the 2024 Paris Olympics – Israel Sports

Celebrating the victory and the hard work that has brought it

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