It's amazing what one Olympic Games can do. Until Tokyo, our constant question every Olympic day was: Will we get a medal? Now, in Paris, almost every day since the opening, we've been wondering – how come we don't have a medal yet?! We've grown accustomed to success. And rightfully so, it turns out.
How fortunate we are to have judo to fulfill our hopes. Since 1992, judo has been our true national sport. Israel was never considered a world power in any sport. In recent years, that has changed: There isn't a judo enthusiast in the world who doesn't know Israel.
Video: Judo medalists receive warm welcome upon arrival in Israel / Credit: Shmuel Buchris
Every few weeks, our judokas hop between competitions around the world, collecting titles and bringing much honor to Israel.
Once every four years, they arrive at the Olympics and deliver the goods – goods that fill us with pride, and this time, also provide us with a much-needed breath of fresh air.
Indeed, those who follow closely – and in recent years, several Facebook and WhatsApp groups have been doing just that (including dedicated Olympic groups) – knew that barring any mishaps and given a reasonable draw, Israel would return from Paris with one or two judo medals. Sure enough, Inbar Lanir and Raz Hershko lived up to expectations, and Peter Paltchik managed to outdo himself when it mattered most. In what other sports do we have such certainty?
Sometimes, it's hard not to think about what would happen if we concentrated most of our Israeli sports resources on productive disciplines like judo rather than on sports that have brought us so many disappointments and so few titles.
Almost everything has probably been said and written about an Israeli medal in the shadow of the year we've had. The thing is, words cannot describe the intensity of emotion, the release, the love, and the energy that flowed through the Champ-de-Mars Arena. It turns out that money can't buy such a powerful experience – only a silver medal can (and a bronze, too).
Even given the security constraints we had to adopt in Paris, even more than at any previous Olympics, the level of Israeli support on the first day felt like being at Bloomfield Stadium, from chants to personalized cheers.
So what's next? Israeli judo has one stone left to turn. This is, of course, an excellent reason to secure tickets for Los Angeles 2028. And this time, we're not coming back without hearing the national anthem on the mat.
