3 Israeli martial artists garner gold medals
Olympic judokas Sagi Muki and Raz Hershko won gold in the Tel Aviv Grand Slam; Shaked Nisimian won Israel’s first gold in a MMA World Championship.
Olympic judokas Sagi Muki and Raz Hershko won gold in the Tel Aviv Grand Slam; Shaked Nisimian won Israel’s first gold in a MMA World Championship.
Saeid Mollaei represents Mongolia after not returning to Iran following contest where he was reportedly told to lose so not to face Israeli opponent.
After winning a gold medal at the International Judo Federation competition August 28 in Tokyo, Muki is well on his way to the 2020 Olympic Games.
Sagi Muki took home a gold medal from the competition in Baku. Teammates Tohar Butbul and Gefen Primo also had their turn on the podium.
Judo dominated the news and the streets in Israel as local judokas won 4 gold, 2 silver and 1 bronze in the season opener for the IJF World Judo Tour.
In a first, Israeli national anthem played in Abu Dhabi as Sagi stood on the winner’s podium on Sunday. Teammate Peter Paltchik won a gold on Monday.
Israel was the only country to win more than one gold medal at the Tashkent Judo Grand Prix 2017 in Uzbekistan.
A record-breaking 47 athletes qualified for Israel’s Olympic delegation to the Rio Games. Which ones have serious podium potential?