Israel (ISR)

Overview

NOCOlympic Committee of Israel
Flagbearers57

Participants

Olympic Games 437
Youth Olympic Games 53
Other competitors with ISR nationality 5

Description

The formation of the state of Israel as an independent Jewish state occurred on 15 May 1948. Israel dates its National Olympic Committee (NOC) to 1933, but that was a Palestine organization, and not truly a precursor of the current NOC. The original Palestine Olympic Committee was recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) on 17 May 1934 at the IOC session in Athens, and was to represent Jews, Muslims, and Christians from the Palestine region. However, the rules of the original Palestine NOC stated, “Palestine is the National Home of the Jews, and so the Palestine NOC represents the Jewish National Home.” Given that manifesto, the Palestine NOC refused to compete at the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin, in protest of Adolf Hitler’s policies.

After World War II, the 1948 London Organizing Committee originally invited the Palestine NOC but later withdrew the invitation. The problem of the status of the Palestine Olympic Committee was solved in 1951 when the Israel Olympic Committee was formed.

Israel competed at its first Olympics in 1952 in Helsinki, the same year in which its National Olympic Committee was formally recognized by the IOC. Israel has missed only the 1980 Moscow Olympics since 1952.

Israel competed at its first Olympics in 1952 at Helsinki, the same year in which its National Olympic Committee was formally recognized by the IOC. Israel has missed only the 1980 Moscow Olympics since 1952. The zenith of Israel participation came in 1992 when two Israeli judoka won the nation’s first medals. The nadir occurred at München on 5 September 1972 when Arab terrorists from the Black September group savagely and cowardly murdered 11 Israeli athletes and officials (David Berger, Ze’ev Friedman, Yossef Gutfreund, Eliezer Halfin, Yossef Romano, Amitzur Shapira, Kehat Shorr, Mark Slavin, Andre Spitzer, Yakov Springer, and Moshe Weinberg).

Through 2022, Israel has won 13 Olympic medals – six in judo, three in sailing, and one each in canoeing, artistic gymnastics, rhythmic gymnastics, and taekwondo. Israel’s top Olympian has been sailor Gal Fridman, who has won two medals, and Israel’s first gold, in 2004 men’s windsurfing. Only one other Israeli athlete has won two medals, both bronze: judoka Or Sasson, in the 2016 men’s heavyweight class and in the 2020 mixed team event.

Israel made its first Olympic Winter Games appearance in 1994 and has competed at every Olympic Winter Games since. They have had athletes competing in Alpine skiing, figure skating, short-track speed skating, and skeleton. They have not yet won a Winter Olympic medal but have had four top-10 finishes: Galit Chait and Sergey Sakhnovsky finished sixth in 2002 ice dancing and eighth in the same event in 2006; and, in 2022, Alpine skier Barnabas Szőllős finished 6th in the Alpine skiing combined event.

Participations by edition

Olympic Games

Edition As Men Women Total
1952 Summer Olympics Israel 22 3 25 Results
1956 Summer Olympics Israel 2 1 3 Results
1960 Summer Olympics Israel 17 6 23 Results
1964 Summer Olympics Israel 8 2 10 Results
1968 Summer Olympics Israel 26 3 29 Results
1972 Summer Olympics Israel 12 2 14 Results
1976 Summer Olympics Israel 24 2 26 Results
1984 Summer Olympics Israel 24 8 32 Results
1988 Summer Olympics Israel 14 4 18 Results
1992 Summer Olympics Israel 25 5 30 Results
1994 Winter Olympics Israel 1 0 1 Results
1996 Summer Olympics Israel 18 7 25 Results
1998 Winter Olympics Israel 2 1 3 Results
2000 Summer Olympics Israel 29 10 39 Results
2002 Winter Olympics Israel 2 3 5 Results
2004 Summer Olympics Israel 20 16 36 Results
2006 Winter Olympics Israel 3 2 5 Results
2008 Summer Olympics Israel 23 20 43 Results
2010 Winter Olympics Israel 2 1 3 Results
2012 Summer Olympics Israel 19 18 37 Results
2014 Winter Olympics Israel 3 1 4 Results
2016 Summer Olympics Israel 22 25 47 Results
2018 Winter Olympics Israel 7 3 10 Results
2020 Summer Olympics Israel 55 34 89 Results
2022 Winter Olympics Israel 4 2 6 Results

Youth Olympic Games

Edition As Men Women Total
2010 Summer Youth Olympics Israel 10 5 15 Results
2014 Summer Youth Olympics Israel 8 6 14 Results
2016 Winter Youth Olympics Israel 2 0 2 Results
2018 Summer Youth Olympics Israel 12 7 19 Results
2020 Winter Youth Olympics Israel 1 2 3 Results

Participations by discipline

Olympic Games

Discipline (Sport) Men Women Total
Alpine Skiing (Skiing) 3 1 4 Results
Archery 1 0 1 Results
Artistic Gymnastics (Gymnastics) 8 8 16 Results
Artistic Swimming (Aquatics) 0 5 5 Results
Athletics 39 21 60 Results
Badminton 1 1 2 Results
Baseball (Baseball/Softball) 24 0 24 Results
Basketball (Basketball) 12 0 12 Results
Boxing 5 0 5 Results
Canoe Sprint (Canoeing) 4 2 6 Results
Cycling Mountain Bike (Cycling) 1 0 1 Results
Cycling Road (Cycling) 2 2 4 Results
Diving (Aquatics) 1 0 1 Results
Equestrian Jumping (Equestrian) 2 1 3 Results
Fencing 7 6 13 Results
Figure Skating (Skating) 8 8 16 Results
Football (Football) 32 0 32 Results
Golf 0 1 1 Results
Judo 20 12 32 Results
Marathon Swimming (Aquatics) 1 0 1 Results
Rhythmic Gymnastics (Gymnastics) 0 29 29 Results
Sailing 25 14 39 Results
Shooting 25 1 26 Results
Short Track Speed Skating (Skating) 1 1 2 Results
Skeleton (Bobsleigh) 1 0 1 Results
Surfing 0 1 1 Results
Swimming (Aquatics) 40 15 55 Results
Table Tennis 0 1 1 Results
Taekwondo 1 3 4 Results
Tennis 6 4 10 Results
Triathlon 3 0 3 Results
Weightlifting 13 0 13 Results
Wrestling 13 1 14 Results

Youth Olympic Games

Discipline (Sport) Men Women Total
3x3 Basketball (Basketball) 4 0 4 Results
Acrobatic Gymnastics (Gymnastics) 1 1 2 Results
Alpine Skiing (Skiing) 1 1 2 Results
Archery 0 1 1 Results
Artistic Gymnastics (Gymnastics) 2 0 2 Results
Athletics 5 1 6 Results
Cycling Road (Cycling) 2 0 2 Results
Figure Skating (Skating) 2 0 2 Results
Freestyle Skiing (Skiing) 0 1 1 Results
Judo 3 1 4 Results
Mixed Sports 2 3 5 Results
Rhythmic Gymnastics (Gymnastics) 0 3 3 Results
Sailing 3 3 6 Results
Swimming (Aquatics) 6 5 11 Results
Table Tennis 0 1 1 Results
Taekwondo 2 1 3 Results
Triathlon 2 1 3 Results

Medals by Games

Edition Competition Type Gold Silver Bronze Total
2010 Summer Youth Olympics Youth Olympic Games 3 2 0 5
2020 Summer Olympics Olympic Games 2 0 2 4
2018 Summer Youth Olympics Youth Olympic Games 1 1 1 3
2004 Summer Olympics Olympic Games 1 0 1 2
1992 Summer Olympics Olympic Games 0 1 1 2
2020 Winter Youth Olympics Youth Olympic Games 0 1 1 2
2016 Summer Olympics Olympic Games 0 0 2 2
1996 Summer Olympics Olympic Games 0 0 1 1
2000 Summer Olympics Olympic Games 0 0 1 1
2008 Summer Olympics Olympic Games 0 0 1 1

Medals by sport

Olympic Games

Sport Gold Silver Bronze Total
Sailing 1 0 2 3
Artistic Gymnastics 1 0 0 1
Rhythmic Gymnastics 1 0 0 1
Judo 0 1 5 6
Canoe Sprint 0 0 1 1
Taekwondo 0 0 1 1

Youth Olympic Games

Sport Gold Silver Bronze Total
Swimming 1 2 1 4
Athletics 1 0 0 1
Sailing 1 0 0 1
Taekwondo 1 0 0 1
Alpine Skiing 0 1 1 2
Acrobatic Gymnastics 0 1 0 1

Most successful competitors

Includes medals won as part of mixed teams.

Olympic Games

Athlete Nat Gold Silver Bronze Total
Gal Fridman ISR 1 0 1 2
Linoy Ashram ISR 1 0 0 1
Artem Dolgopyat ISR 1 0 0 1
Yael Arad ISR 0 1 0 1
Or Sasson ISR 0 0 2 2
Shay-Oren Smadja ISR 0 0 1 1
Michael Kolganov ISR 0 0 1 1
Arik Ze'evi ISR 0 0 1 1
Shahar Zubari ISR 0 0 1 1
Shira Rishony ISR 0 0 1 1
Yarden Gerbi ISR 0 0 1 1
Sagi Muki ISR 0 0 1 1
Gili Sharir ISR 0 0 1 1
Inbar Lanir ISR 0 0 1 1
Raz Hershko ISR 0 0 1 1
Timna Nelson Levy ISR 0 0 1 1
Baruch Shmailov ISR 0 0 1 1
Li Kochman ISR 0 0 1 1
Peter Paltchik ISR 0 0 1 1
Tohar Butbul ISR 0 0 1 1
Abishag Semberg ISR 0 0 1 1

Youth Olympic Games

Athlete Nat Gold Silver Bronze Total
Dmitry Kroyter ISR 1 0 0 1
Fanny Beisaron ISR 1 0 0 1
Mayan Rafic ISR 1 0 0 1
Gili Haimovitz ISR 1 0 0 1
Anastasia Gorbenko ISR 1 0 0 1
Yakov Toumarkin ISR 0 2 0 2
Noa Szőllős ISR 0 1 1 2
Yonatan Fridman ISR 0 1 0 1
Noa Kazado Yakar ISR 0 1 0 1
Rotem Shor ISR 0 0 1 1
Idan Vardi ISR 0 0 1 1
Denis Loktev ISR 0 0 1 1

IOC Members

Alex Gilady 1994—2022
Yael Arad 2023—