Israel at the World Athletics Championships

Israel's breakthrough at the World Athletics Championships arrived in 1999 in Seville, when two Israelis reached the same event final for the first time. Pole vaulter Alex Averbukh, who had immigrated to Israel in May 1999, and fellow Israeli Danny Krasnov both qualified for the pole-vault final.[3] Krasnov finished ninth, while Averbukh cleared 5.80 metres to claim bronze and become the first Israeli to win a senior World Championships medal.[4][5]

Reflecting on the achievement, Averbukh said: "I understand that my achievement in Spain (the competition was held in Seville) has brought a lot of pleasure to Israel, and that makes me very happy."[3] The delegation also produced national records in the men's 100 metres through Alex Parhomovsky, the 200 metres through Tommy Kafri, and the 4x100-metre relay through Parhomovsky, Kafri, Gideon Yablonka and Rafi Ya'ar.[5]

2001 — Edmonton: Averbukh returned to the World Championships in Edmonton and improved on his Seville bronze, winning silver in the pole vault with a clearance of 5.85 metres.[3][6] He later won European Athletics Championships gold medals in 2002 and 2006.[7]

2015 — Beijing: The next medal arrived fourteen years later in a different discipline. Hanna Knyazyeva-Minenko, a triple jumper who had moved to Israel from Ukraine two years earlier following her relationship with Israeli decathlete Anatoli Minenko, won silver with an Israeli national record of 14.78 metres on her second attempt.[8][9] The jump improved her personal best by seven centimetres, and she became the first Israeli woman to win a senior World Championships medal.[9] Before competing, she had told President Reuven Rivlin that she wanted to hear "Hatikva," Israel's national anthem, played after her event.[8]

Israel sent five athletes to Beijing: Knyazyeva-Minenko in the triple jump, Donald Sanford in the 400 metres, Marharyta Dorozhon in the javelin, Dmitry Kroyter in the high jump, and Olga Lenskiy in the sprints. All five were born outside Israel.[10] Sanford had set an Israeli 400-metre record of 45.04 seconds and become the first Israeli to win a sprint medal at the European Athletics Championships. Dorozhon, who became an Israeli citizen in 2014, held the Israeli javelin record at 64.56 metres after winning the 2015 Diamond League meeting in Oslo.[10]

2022 — Eugene: At the World Athletics Championships in Eugene, Oregon, Lonah Chemtai Salpeter won bronze in the women's marathon in 2:20:18, finishing behind Ethiopia's Gotytom Gebreslase and Kenya's Judith Jeptum Korir.[11] Salpeter, born in Kenya, had moved to Israel in 2011 and became an Israeli citizen in March 2016 after a prolonged citizenship process. Her citizenship enabled her to represent Israel at the 2016 Rio and 2020 Tokyo Olympics.[12] Her bronze was Israel's fourth senior World Championships medal and its first marathon medal.[11]

Jonathan Kapitolnik reached the men's high-jump final as the youngest of the thirteen finalists after clearing 2.28 metres in qualifying; he later finished 11th.[13][14] Maru Teferi finished 11th in the men's marathon in 2:07:59, then the best World Championships marathon result by an Israeli man.[1]

2023 — Budapest: Teferi converted that promise into a medal at the 2023 championships in Budapest. He moved through the field from outside the leading group, recovered after falling during the race, and overtook Ethiopia's Leul Gebresilase in the final 100 metres to win silver in 2:09:12.[1] Uganda's Victor Kiplangat took gold in 2:08:53, while Gebresilase won bronze in 2:09:19.[1] Teferi had previously finished 13th in the marathon at the 2020 Olympics, then the best Olympic marathon result by an Israeli man.[15]

Teferi's silver was Israel's fifth medal at the senior World Championships.[1] It matched the country's previous best placing, achieved by Averbukh in 2001 and Knyazyeva-Minenko in 2015.[6][9] Teferi said: "I'm so excited and happy to represent my country on such a big stage and bring honor to myself, my country, and my family."[15]

Israel sent four athletes to Budapest: Salpeter, Teferi, Aymro Alame and Blessing Afrifah. Gashau Ayale and Girma Amare had qualified but withdrew, Ayale with a quadriceps injury and Amare for personal reasons.[16] Salpeter finished fourth in the women's marathon in 2:25:38, Alame finished 20th in the men's marathon in 2:12:32, and Afrifah was eliminated in the first round of the 200 metres.[1]

2025 — Tokyo: Israel sent eight athletes to the 2025 championships in Tokyo across the men's and women's marathons, men's 200 metres, men's high jump and women's 3,000-metre steeplechase.[14] The men's marathon produced the delegation's strongest results: Aymro Alame finished fourth in 2:10:03, 15 seconds behind the bronze medalist, and Gashau Ayale finished seventh in 2:10:27.[17][2] Tanzania's Alphonce Felix Simbu won in 2:09:48.[17] Teferi withdrew at approximately the 35-kilometre mark because of a hamstring injury.[2]

Adva Cohen ran a personal best in the women's 3,000-metre steeplechase but did not advance.[2] In the women's marathon, Maor Tiyouri finished 23rd and Salpeter withdrew because of knee pain.[2] Kapitolnik finished 14th in the high jump after clearing 2.21 metres but failing three attempts at 2.25 metres. Afrifah finished 28th in the 200 metres in 20.47 seconds after slowing near the finish because of foot pain.[2]

Israel's record at the senior World Athletics Championships reflects both the country's growing strength in endurance athletics and the role of immigration in its competitive programme. Four athletes reached the podium through 2025, earning five medals: Averbukh won two, while Knyazyeva-Minenko, Salpeter and Teferi won one each.[1] Averbukh immigrated from Siberia, while Knyazyeva-Minenko moved from Ukraine.[3][8] Salpeter was born in Kenya and Teferi in Ethiopia.[12][18] The 2015 Beijing delegation also illustrated this pattern: all five athletes were born abroad, although Kroyter and Lenskiy arrived in Israel as children and developed their athletics careers there.[10]

The shift toward long-distance road racing became particularly pronounced in the 2020s. Salpeter's marathon bronze in 2022 and Teferi's silver in 2023 gave Israel medals in consecutive championships.[11][1] The 2025 Tokyo men's marathon then produced two Israeli finishers in the top seven, with Alame narrowly missing the podium and Ayale placing seventh.[17][2] Together, the results demonstrated greater Israeli depth in international long-distance racing even though the 2025 delegation did not win a medal.

Reports on Israel's medal record have sometimes used "medal" and "medalist" inconsistently. Ynet described Salpeter's 2022 bronze as Israel's fourth medal while identifying her as the third Israeli athlete to reach the podium.[11] Sport5 described Teferi's 2023 silver as Israel's fifth medal, whereas Ynet News identified him as the fourth Israeli athlete to win one.[1][15] This article therefore distinguishes five individual medals from four distinct medal-winning athletes through 2025.