In a triumphant 24 hours for Israel at the European Judo Championships in Bulgaria, the Israeli national team took home a third medal on Saturday after judoka Gili Sharir won bronze. A day earlier, judoka Timna Nelson-Levy won a historic gold medal and Shira Rishony another bronze.
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Sharir won the bronze in the under 63-kilogram (around 138 pounds) weight class after being eliminated in the quarterfinals and being sent to repechage, a bracket that allows eliminated competitors a chance to continue the fight for a bronze medal. She then moved on to compete against Cristina Cabana Perez of Spain.
She initially suffered a penalty in the opening of the fight, then was awarded an ippon – a score that automatically grants a fighter the win – eight seconds before the end of the fight, securing her a medal.
Nelson-Levy, 27, became only the second Israeli woman to win gold in the history of the tournament, defeating Olympic silver medalist Sara-Leonie Cysique in the final of the women's under 57 kg contest.
A native Jerusalemite, Nelson-Levy was born to American parents who immigrated to Israel shortly after getting married. She is the first Israeli woman to win gold at the European Championships since Yael Arad in 1993.
"It's a dream," she said after her win. "I gave everything, I felt great throughout the tournament and I had a really good preparation."
Friday was the first day of the competition that runs through Sunday, May 1.
Rishony won her bronze medal in the under 48 kg category on Friday after losing in the semifinals, recovering, and then beating Francesca Milani of Italy. It was Rishony's first career medal.
For the men, Baruch Smailov lost a chance at a bronze and ended up fifth in the 66-kilogram weight category. In that class, Tal Flicker qualified for the quarterfinals but failed to win a medal.
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