Judoka Hershko secures Israel’s second silver medal in Paris Olympics

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Israeli judoka Raz Hershko (26) secured the Jewish state’s second silver medal in the Paris 2024 Summer Olympics after qualifying for the women’s over-78kg weight class. While she lost the final to her Brazilian opponent Beatriz Souza, Hershko’s impressive achievement contributed to Israel's Olympic medal count, which now includes two silver and one bronze in female judo.

Hershko admitted that she had hoped to win the gold medal.

“It’s a bummer it wasn’t an Olympic gold, that was the goal,” Hershko said during an interview with Israel's Sport 5 channel shortly after the match. “I’m not sure what I’m crying over more, that I lost or that I have a medal,” she added.

“I so wanted the gold, I felt like it was my day, like I was there, that I was sharp, that I could make history in judo,” Hershko added. She said she felt “a small sense of missing out… but I’m happy,” referring to her silver victory.

She praised her coach Shanny Hershko, who happens to be her uncle. “I can very objectively say that he’s the best coach in the world.”

Israel has a remarkable record in Olympic judo, securing nine of its total 16 medals in the category.

Hershko is a determined young woman. Following the disappointing 2020 Tokyo Olympics, where she did not win any individual medal, she began training back in Israel right away to prepare the Paris Games.

“I didn’t rest, I went back to compete, to train, all to come and to do my best on the biggest stage, and to fix what happened in Tokyo,” she recalled.

Hershko, who is No. 2 in the world ranking in her weight category, automatically qualified for the found-or-16, where she initially won of the Dutch judoka Marit Kamps and then Milica Žabić in the quarterfinal. In the semifinal Hershko defeated her Turkish opponent Kayra Ozdemir after just 15 seconds.

In April, Hershko made history by becoming the first Israeli judoka to win the gold medal in the European Judo Championships, which was held in Croatia.

On Thursday, Israeli judoka Peter Paltchik secured Israel's first medal in the 2024 Paris Games by winning the bronze medal in the men’s under-100kg category. Shortly after, Israeli female judoka Inbar Lanir won a silver medal in the women’s under-78kg category.