Marking another historic moment for Israeli sports, Israeli judoka Sagi Muki won gold at the Judo World Championships in Tokyo on Wednesday in the men's -81 kg (178 lbs) category.
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Muki is the first Israeli male judoka to receive this honor.
Prior to Wednesday's matches, all eyes were on Iranian judoka Saeid Mollaei, the defending champion, because there was the very real possibility that he would have to compete against Muki.
But Mollaei was knocked out of the race in the quarter-final stage. Muki won the final against Belgium's Matthias Casse.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was quick to praise Muki. "You are a world champion! You brought enormous pride to all of us," Netanyahu said on Twitter.
For Muki, this was the first time he won a medal at the World Championships. He won the European gold medal in 2015 and then in 2018. Three years ago, in the Olympic Games in Brazil, he finished 5th.
