Israel’s Special Olympics delegation won 25 medals at the International World Games in Berlin

The torch lighting ceremony at the Special Olympics World Games Berlin 2023 on June 7, 2023. Photo: Alexander Hassenstein/Special Olympics World Games Berlin 2023

The Israeli delegation that competed at the Special Olympics World Games Berlin 2023 won a total of 25 medals by the end of the international competition that ended on Sunday.

According to Israel, the 35 athletes competing for the Jewish state won nine gold, eight silver and eight bronze medals in eight sports, including track, judoka, cycling, swimming and bowling. Channel 12.

Levav Barkan won the gold medal in men’s judo after the final match against Mongolia. Ron Beck, 16, won a gold medal in the men’s 3,000m track race at Level A and also won silver in the 5,000m at the same level. Additionally, he helped teammates Adi Madmon, 29, Saar Buchbinder, 30, and Pele Abudy, 29, win bronze for Israel in the 4×400m medley relay.

Buchbinder also won two gold medals in the 5,000m B-level and 10,000m B-level events, while Madmon won bronze in the women’s 100m A.

Aran Bar Peled won silver in the women’s 800m freestyle at B level, while Noga Koren and Tal Golani won bronze in two separate women’s cycling events. Rivi Cohen, 38, and her partner Hana Duanis, 66, won silver in the women’s United Sports doubles. Seventeen-year-old table tennis player David Kersenti, whose Iranian opponent was prevented from competing against him last week when his coach withdrew him from the competition, won the gold medal in the men’s under-17 table tennis tournament. in division 1.

Yakov Hamama won silver in the 2km men’s cycling in the 30-and-over age group despite suffering a laceration to his leg, the Israeli delegation said in a Facebook post. The Israeli women’s soccer team, making their first appearance in Berlin, also won silver after losing 2-0 to Bangladesh in the F3 division final.

Israel reportedly won 19 medals in the last Special Olympics World Games in 2019.

A total of 7,000 athletes from nearly 200 countries competed in this year’s Special Olympics in 26 sports.