Israeli Olympian Avishag Samberg scored the Jewish state its first medal in the Tokyo Games on Saturday, winning the bronze in taekwondo.
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Taekwondo made its debut as a demonstration Olympic sport at the 1988 Seoul Games and became an official medal sport at the 2000 Sydney Games.
The 19-year-old is the first taekwondoin to ever represent Israel in this sport in the Olympics.
She defeated Turkish Rokia Yildirim with a score of 27-22 in the under 49-kilogram weight class.
Samberg's win represents Israel's 10th medal overall.
After winning the match, Semberg ran to the stands to embrace former judoka Yael Arad, who was Israel's first Olympic medal, a silver, at the 1992 Barcelona Games. Culture and Sports Minister Chili Tropper was also there to celebrate Samberg's historic win.
Prime Minister Naftali Bennett also congratulated Samberg, praising her hard work and perseverance.
"You brought tremendous pride to our people," he told the athlete in a telephone conversation. "It wasn't just your incredible achievement, but also the message that you conveyed to the Israeli youth, that of perseverance and continuous effort. There is no such thing as success without determination and effort. Most of the time, it requires hard work and is challenging."
Samberg thanked the prime minister for the kind words and said it was an honor for her to be an example to Israeli teenagers.
The bronze medalist also received a phone call from President Isaac Herzog.
"You have made history," he told her. "Congratulations on winning the historic taekwondo medal. You worked hard throughout the entire journey and brought great pride to the State of Israel. You are an inspiration to many boys and girls in Israel who will look at you and see how hard work can make a dream come true. You have put Israeli taekwondo on the map."
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