Israel sets tone for Olympic windsurfing

After the completion of four events at the Paris 2024 Olympics, Israel is the medal leader thanks to the nation’s commitment to Men’s Windsurfer and Women’s Windsurfer, resulting in a gold for Tom Reuveny and silver for Sharon Kantor.

The last time Israel appeared on an Olympic sailing podium was in Beijing 2008, when Shahar Tzuberi picked up bronze in the windsurfing.

Before Paris 2024, Israel had only clinched one sailing gold medal. That came 20 years ago in Athens, when Gal Fridman became a national icon by winning gold in the windsurfing. To push the poetic symbolism even further, Fridman is now Reuveny’s coach, so got to watch on as his protégé became an Olympic champion.

In many ways, Tzuberi and Fridman not only set the example for others to follow, they helped guide the next generation to future glory.

“Gal was the first gold medalist from Israel, so he put a pretty big stamp on windsurfing,” shared Reuveny. “Since then it’s become a big sport in Israel, everyone knows about it. And everyone knows Gal, so cementing my name alongside him is pretty insane and Sharon is amazing as well. Gal’s my coach, and Shahar, who has a bronze from Beijing, is Sharon’s coach.

“It’s amazing to have two massive mentors helping us out, telling us exactly what to do and how it feels. They showed us how you should approach the game and it worked.”

Following in the footsteps of Fridman was not an easy task for Reuveny, but he relished the challenge and at no point felt irked by the expectations placed on his shoulders.

“I wasn’t really expected to win gold or even medal here, so there wasn’t a lot of pressure on me, but I always put the pressure on myself,” Reuveny admitted.

Given that all five of Israel’s Olympic sailing medals have come in windsurfing, there is evidently a special connection between the country and the sport.

For Reuveny, his love of windsurfing began when he was child. He used to head to the beach to watch his father out on the water windsurfing and dreamt of doing the same. To this day Reuveny still windsurfs with his father in Israel whenever there’s good wind.

Kantor’s passion for windsurfing also started at an early age – she first got on a board aged 10 at the Michmoret Sailing Club and was instantly hooked.

“Everyone is windsurfing in Israel,” she said. “We have a lot of sea so we’re always out on the water, spending time practicing. We also worked really hard to get here, it didn’t come easy.”

To get to the Olympics, Kantor had to beat the most competitive national class of windsurfers in the world. No less than five Israeli women have won World Championship medals in the past three years alone.

That cohort includes Kantor and Shahar Tibi who both have a gold, Daniela Peleg who took silver, Maya Morris who earnt bronze, and Katy Spychakov who has both silver and bronze.

Up until now, the men’s side has not been nearly as profitable as the women’s, but after missing out on a spot in Tokyo, Reuveny made his Olympic debut count and hopes his breakthrough success can inspire a new wave of boys to join the sport.

“The women showed that it was possible to be on the podium and I wanted to be a part of it, so I worked hard to join in,” Reuveny said. “There’s now a young team coming through in Israel who are pushing hard. The women’s team is amazing and has been at the top for the last three years.

“I hope the men’s team can now follow in their footsteps so that both of us can be the strongest teams in the world.”

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Event details – Results – Notice Board

Medal Count (G-S-B) – Four of 10 events completed
Israel: 1-1-0
Netherlands: 1-0-1
Italy: 1-0-0
Spain: 1-0-0
Australia: 0-1-0
New Zealand: 0-1-0
Sweden: 0-1-0
Great Britain: 0-0-1
France: 0-0-1
USA: 0-0-1

Source: World Sailing