Last Saturday was a historic day at the Paris 2024 Olympics, as Israel won two silver medals מדליות (meh-dahl-yoht) and one gold medal, all in one day. This brings Israel’s total medal count in these Olympic Games to six, setting a new record שיא (see) for the young state. Three Israeli judokas won Olympic medals earlier in the games: Inbar Lanir and Raz Hershko won silver, and Peter Paltchik won bronze.

The incredible winning streak began with the semifinals of IQFoil windsurfing גלישת רוח (glee-shaht roo-ahch) in Marseille. Both Sharon Kantor (21) and Tom Reuveny (24) secured their spots in the finals one after the other, despite the races being postponed due to poor weather conditions. Then came the women’s windsurfing finals, where Sharon Kantor – showing great skill and maneuvering abilities – won the silver כסף (keh-sehf) medal, making her the first Israeli woman to achieve this feat. An hour later, Tom Reuveny competed in the men’s windsurfing finals and won the gold זהב (zah-hahv) medal, twenty years after his coach Gal Friedman won it himself in Athens. Reuveny gave the nation a much-needed uplifting moment as the national anthem “התקווה” (Hatikvah, “The Hope”) was played in the medal ceremony, giving us hope in a broader sense.

A few hours later, Artem Dolgopyat (27) competed in the men’s artistic gymnastics התעמלות מכשירים (heet-ahm-loot mahch-shee-reem) finals, and his outstanding floor exercise earned him the silver medal, the third Olympic medal of the day. Dolgopyat has already won several gold and silver medals at world and European championships אליפויות (ah-lee-foo-yoht), including a gold medal in gymnastics at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. This makes him the first Israeli athlete to win medals at consecutive Olympic games. President Isaac Herzog called all three medal winners to congratulate them on their achievements, saluting them on behalf of the nation. I think we all see them as beacons of light, a model of strength and resilience — resilience of the human spirit.

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