Olympic sensation: Silver medal for Israel's rhythmic gymnastics brings new Israeli Olympic record to 7

Israel has never won more than 4 medals during past Olympic Games

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Israel’s rhythmic gymnastics team won a silver medal at the Paris 2024 Summer Olympics on Saturday evening, raising the country's total medal count to seven – the highest number of medals Israel has ever achieved in a single Olympic Games.

Entering the final event in fifth place, the Israeli team – Shani Bakanov (18), Adar Friedmann (18), Romi Paritzki (20), Ofir Shaham (19), and Diana Svertsov (19) – rallied in the final round to secure second place, trailing only behind China.

The Israeli team scored 68.850 points, narrowly missing the Chinese team's top score of 69.800. Italy claimed the bronze medal.

“There is great happiness,” the team's trainer, Ayelet Zusman, told Israel's KAN News. She highlighted the sacrifices made by the team, which have now paid off.

“The team trains around 10 hours every day… the girls start training around 7 or 8 in the morning,” Zusman said.

Until now, the highest placement achieved by Israel's rhythmic gymnastics teams in the Olympic Games was three 6th-place finishes.

#Silver for Israel! 🇮🇱

The team clinch second place in the rhythmic gymnastics group all-around and claim a first-ever medal in this event for @Olympic_Israel.@gymnastics | #RhythmicGymnastics | #Paris2024 | #Samsung | #TogetherForTomorrow pic.twitter.com/GgXwePayF7
— The Olympic Games (@Olympics) August 10, 2024

This year’s Olympic performance marks the most successful showing ever for Israel, bringing its total medal count to 20, with seven won at this year’s Paris Games. The achievements were particularly notable given the backdrop of the ongoing war in Gaza against the Hamas terroris organization, as well as heightened tensions with Hezbollah and Iran.

"What Israeli pride," Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, praising the team. He called Israel's delegation "our Olympic dream squad," and congratulated the rhythmic gymnastics team for its "tremendous achievement."

"Seven Olympic medals, achieved with talent, effort and perseverance – all while uniquely transcending to bring honor and pride to our country. Together we win," Netanyahu wrote.

“We can’t take it in. It’s a dream come true. We worked so hard in the hoops exercise, we had falls, but we believed until the end and gave it our all,” Paritzki said.

“We left it all on the floor, and I’m glad it was reflected. The crowd was amazing, the energy, wow,” she added.

Shaham said, “Before going out on the court, we knew we had to fight until the end, and we did. We believed very strongly, we gave it our all because we knew that we would win only together.”

The rhythmic gymnastics team joined Israel’s other medal winners: The trio from Judo - Inbar Lanir (silver), Raz Hershko (silver) and Peter Paltchik (bronze)- along with the windsurfers, Tom Reuveny (gold) and Sharon Kantor (silver), and floor gymnast, Artem Dolgopyat/

Israel's best Olympic performance prior to this summer was at the Tokyo 2020 Games, where the Israeli delegation won four medals.