Finishing in 7th place overall, Maayan Davidovich says she ‘wanted to leave Rio in better style’; family say they are proud of her
There was disappointment for Israel at the Rio Games on Sunday, when Maayan Davidovich missed on a medal in the final race of the RS:X women’s windsurfing competition.
Davidovich, 28, finished in ninth place in the final race, with a time of 24 minutes and 46 seconds. She wound up in seventh place overall.
The windsurfer also expressed disappointment at her performance, saying after the race that she was capable of much more.
“I’m bummed out, but I am trying not to take it too hard. I wanted to leave Rio in better style,” she said, according to the Ynet news website. “Seventh place is not good enough, and I hope [the 2020 Olympics in] Tokyo will be different. I’m not satisfied, I was capable of much more. I hope [Israeli track and field champion Hanna Knyazyeva] Minenko will get [Israel’s] tenth medal.”
But Davidovich’s sister told Maariv newspaper that the family was proud of her achievement. “She went to get a medal, and we believe she will go to Tokyo. We are proud of her,” she said.
The windsurfer is coached by Olympic medalist Gal Fridman, who claimed the gold — Israel’s only top Olympics prize — in the sport at the 2004 Athens Games.
Davidovich qualified for the medal race after finishing in second place in two of the final races of Friday’s opening series.
Israel’s last medal in windsurfing came courtesy of Shahar Tzuberi, who took home the bronze in the 2008 games in Beijing.
The gold went to Charline Picon of France; Peina Chen of China won the silver and Stefaniya Elfutina of Russia the bronze.
Picon finished the medals race in second place to beat Chen by two points. As soon as she crossed the line, Picon let her sail go and knelt down on her board with her head in her hands. Lilian de Geus of Holland, who missed the bronze by one point, jumped the water, got on Picon’s board and gave her a hug.
Meanwhile, Hanna Knyazyeva-Minenko was preparing for the women’s triple jump finals.
Knyazyeva-Minenko earned her spot Saturday with a final jump result of 14.20 meters.
The triple jumper, who placed fourth at the 2012 Olympics and won a silver medal at the European Athletics Championships in Amsterdam last month, holds Israel’s national record in her sport.
Judoka Yarden Gerbi won Israel’s first medal at the 2016 Olympics, taking the bronze in the women’s under-63 kg competition.
Gerbi’s medal made her the first Israeli Olympic medalist since Tzuberi.
On Friday, fellow judoka Or Sasson won the country’s second medal of the Games, also taking home the bronze in the men’s over-100 kg competition on Friday.
Sasson brushed off an unpleasant encounter with his defeated Egyptian opponent, Islam El-Shahaby, in the first round, going on to win two more fights and claim his place in the semifinals against France’s legendary Teddy Riner. He lost narrowly to Riner, but then beat Cuba’s Alex Mendoza to claim bronze.
As reported by The Times of Israel