Israel at the 2020 Summer Olympics

The Tokyo Games were originally scheduled for 2020 but were postponed by one year because of the COVID-19 pandemic. They retained the name "Tokyo 2020" and took place from July 23 to August 8, 2021.[1][2] The closing ceremony was held in an empty stadium after spectators had been largely barred from the Games.[9]

Israel had participated in the Summer Olympics since 1952. It entered Tokyo with nine previous Olympic medals and had never won more than two at a single Summer Games.[2][3] The expanded delegation and the inclusion of Israel's first Olympic baseball team therefore raised expectations for a broader competitive showing than in earlier Games.

The Tokyo Games also carried historical significance beyond competition. A U.S. House resolution later recorded that they commemorated the eleven members of Israel's Olympic delegation murdered during the terrorist attack at the 1972 Munich Olympics.[1]

Israel sent 90 athletes to Tokyo, its largest Olympic delegation to that point and nearly twice the size of the delegation sent to Rio in 2016.[3] Some contemporary reports counted 89 competitors rather than 90, apparently reflecting differences in how the final delegation was counted.[10][5]

Israeli athletes competed in archery, athletics, badminton, baseball, road and mountain cycling, equestrian events, artistic and rhythmic gymnastics, judo, sailing, shooting, surfing, artistic and pool swimming, open-water swimming, taekwondo, triathlon, and weightlifting.[2][3] Baseball was a particularly significant addition because it was Israel's first appearance in the Olympic tournament. Before the Games, the 24-player baseball roster had been expected to make the delegation the largest Israel had ever sent.[11]

Competition began with Avishag Semberg's taekwondo bronze on July 24. The mixed judo team added another bronze on July 31, Artem Dolgopyat won the men's floor-exercise gold on August 1, and Linoy Ashram completed the medal haul with rhythmic-gymnastics gold on August 7.[12][8][13][14] Post-Games summaries credited Israel with either 15 or 18 finals, illustrating the breadth of the delegation's results even though publications used different counting methods.[5][15]

During the Tokyo opening ceremony, the eleven members of Israel's delegation murdered at the 1972 Munich Olympics were specifically remembered as part of a tribute to people who had died during the Olympic Games.[1][7]

The commemoration was reported as the first official remembrance of the murdered Israelis during an Olympic opening ceremony, 49 years after the terrorist attack. Widows Ankie Spitzer and Ilana Romano attended the ceremony in Tokyo.[7] Families of the victims had campaigned for years for greater public recognition from the International Olympic Committee.

The IOC had faced criticism for not holding a moment of silence for the Israelis during the 2012 London opening ceremony. A memorial ceremony was held during the 2016 Rio Games, but it was not incorporated into the opening ceremony itself.[7] The Tokyo tribute therefore represented a milestone in the families' long campaign for recognition.

Israel won four medals at the Tokyo Games—two gold and two bronze—setting a national record and making Tokyo its most successful Olympics to that date.[4][5]

Avishag Semberg — Taekwondo Bronze

Israel's first medal came on July 24, 2021, when 19-year-old Avishag Semberg won bronze in the women's under-49-kilogram taekwondo division. She defeated Turkey's Rukiye Yıldırım 27–22 in the bronze-medal contest.[8] It was Israel's first Olympic taekwondo medal, its first medal on the opening day of Olympic competition, and its tenth Olympic medal overall.[2][8]

Israel's Mixed Judo Team — Bronze

Israel's mixed judo team won bronze in the event's Olympic debut. After defeating Italy 4–3 in the round of 16, Israel lost 4–3 to France in the quarterfinals and beat Brazil 4–2 in the repechage.[16] Israel then defeated the team competing as the Russian Olympic Committee 4–1. Sagi Muki, Raz Hershko, and Peter Paltchik won before Timna Nelson-Levy secured the team result.[12][16]

The eleven medal recipients were Shira Rishony, Baruch Shmailov, Gili Sharir, Timna Nelson-Levy, Raz Hershko, Sagi Muki, Peter Paltchik, Ori Sasson, Tohar Butbul, Li Kochman, and Inbar Lanir.[12][16] The bronze was Israel's second medal of the Tokyo Games and its eleventh Olympic medal overall.[12]

Artem Dolgopyat — Artistic Gymnastics Gold

Artem Dolgopyat, who was born in Ukraine and moved to Israel at age 12, won gold in the men's artistic-gymnastics floor exercise.[17] Dolgopyat and Spain's Rayderley Zapata both scored 14.933, but Dolgopyat won because his routine carried a difficulty score 0.100 points higher.[10][13] He had ranked first in qualifying with a score of 15.2.[10]

The victory made Dolgopyat Israel's second Olympic gold medalist, following windsurfer Gal Fridman's victory at the 2004 Athens Games, and raised Israel's overall Olympic medal count to twelve.[13] Before Tokyo, Dolgopyat had won the floor-exercise title at the 2020 European Championships and silver medals at the 2017 and 2019 World Championships.[17]

Linoy Ashram — Rhythmic Gymnastics Gold

Linoy Ashram, a native of Rishon LeZion, won the women's rhythmic-gymnastics individual all-around final. She became the first Israeli woman to win Olympic gold and Israel's second gold medalist of the Tokyo Games.[4][6] She was also the first champion in the event from outside the former Soviet Union at an Olympics in which former Soviet states competed.[6]

Ashram dropped her ribbon during the final but quickly recovered and continued her routine. She later said that after her third exercise she realized she was among the top three competitors, although she had not expected to finish first.[14] She defeated Russia's Dina Averina by 0.150 points, ending a Russian Olympic title streak in the event that had lasted since 2000.[18]

Several Israeli athletes achieved notable finishes without reaching the podium. Matan Roditi placed fourth in the men's 10-kilometer open-water swim, finishing approximately 23 seconds behind the bronze medalist. It was the highest Olympic finish by an Israeli swimmer to that point.[19][5] Yoav Cohen also finished fourth in windsurfing despite winning the medal race.[9][5]

Anastasia Gorbenko became the first Israeli woman to reach an Olympic swimming final and placed eighth in the women's 100-meter backstroke. Israel's mixed 4×100-meter medley relay also reached the final and finished eighth, giving Israeli swimming two finalists at one Games for the first time.[5][15] Israeli swimmers set five national records during the competition.[15]

Marhu Teferi finished thirteenth in the men's marathon, an Israeli record for an Olympic marathon finish.[9] Other notable results included fifth-place finishes for judokas Shira Rishony and Baruch Shmailov; sixth place for triple-jumper Hanna Knyazyeva-Minenko, windsurfer Katy Spichkov, and Israel's rhythmic-gymnastics group; eighth for Noya Bar-Am and Shachar Tibi in the women's 470 sailing event; and tenth for Selamawit Bayulin-Teferi in the women's 5,000-meter final.[9]

Archer Itay Shani advanced to the round of 16 and was ranked ninth overall, while equestrian Ashlee Bond finished eleventh in the show-jumping final.[9][15]

Tokyo 2020 marked Israel's first appearance in Olympic baseball. Israel qualified by advancing from a second-tier pool and reaching the Europe/Africa qualifier. In the six-team round robin, it defeated Spain, the Netherlands, and Italy, lost to the Czech Republic, and then beat South Africa to secure its Olympic place.[20]

The 24-player Olympic roster was led by four-time Major League Baseball All-Star Ian Kinsler, and eight other players had appeared in Major League Baseball. Israel had been ranked 41st in the world in 2017, making its qualification particularly notable.[3]

The national team was largely composed of American professionals. The Israel Association of Baseball reported that more than 1,000 players participated in 80 youth and adult leagues in Israel.[21] Because Olympic competitors were required to hold citizenship in the country they represented, several American-born players obtained Israeli citizenship before the Games.[11]

One player, Jake, had moved from Philadelphia to Israel and needed citizenship to join the national team. He credited the Jewish Agency with assisting him and said after qualification, "It's honestly impossible to put the feeling into words, knowing we are headed to the Olympics."[20]

Israel recorded its first Olympic baseball victory by defeating Mexico 12–5 in a knockout-stage game in Yokohama. Both teams had lost their two preliminary-round games, and the victory guaranteed Israel at least two additional games.[22] Israel was later eliminated after losses to South Korea and the Dominican Republic.[5]

Israel's four medals at Tokyo 2020 represented a watershed in the country's Olympic history. Multiple post-Games accounts described Tokyo as Israel's most successful Olympics to that point, and the four-medal haul doubled the country's previous single-Games record.[9][5] It was also the first Olympics at which Israel won more than one gold medal.

Artem Dolgopyat's victory made him Israel's first Olympic champion in artistic gymnastics and its second Olympic gold medalist overall.[17][13] His development from a Ukrainian-born immigrant who moved to Israel at age 12 into an Olympic champion also reflected the role immigration has played in Israeli society and sport.

Linoy Ashram's gold was similarly historic. She became the first Israeli woman to win Olympic gold and broke the long dominance of athletes from the former Soviet Union in the rhythmic-gymnastics all-around.[6] Her victory, together with Dolgopyat's, gave Israel two gymnastics gold medals at a single Games.

The mixed judo bronze, two swimming finals, Roditi's fourth-place open-water finish, the marathon record, and the baseball team's first Olympic victory demonstrated greater competitive depth across several sports.[5][15] The reported participation of more than 1,000 baseball players in 80 Israeli leagues also suggested that the national team's Olympic appearance rested on a growing domestic base.[21]

The opening-ceremony commemoration of the eleven Israelis murdered at the 1972 Munich Olympics added a separate historical dimension. It followed decades of campaigning by victims' families and occurred 49 years after the terrorist attack.[1][7] Together, the commemoration and Israel's record medal performance made Tokyo 2020 a landmark in Israel's relationship with the Olympic movement.

The principal competitive dispute involving Israel concerned the judging of the women's rhythmic-gymnastics all-around. The Russian Olympic Committee alleged that Dina Averina had been unfairly denied gold and sought to have the result transferred from Ashram. The International Olympic Committee rejected the appeal, stating that there was no reason to believe the judges' conduct was flawed.[18] The International Gymnastics Federation was later reported to have affirmed that the judges acted properly.[23]

A separate medal dispute involved Israel's mixed judo team. Gili Cohen was a member of the twelve-person team but had not been registered for the final-day competition, so only eleven athletes received bronze medals. Israel appealed on her behalf, but the appeal was rejected.[12]

Contemporary reports also varied in their statistical summaries. Delegation totals ranged from 89 to 90, while post-Games accounts credited Israel with either 15 or 18 finals.[10][5][15] One retrospective stated that Israel had only seven medals before Tokyo, but the contemporaneous medal sequence identified Semberg's bronze as Israel's tenth medal, the judo bronze as its eleventh, and Dolgopyat's gold as its twelfth, establishing a pre-Tokyo total of nine.[2][12][13]