Israeli shooter Doron Shaziri won a bronze medal in the 50-meter rifle three-positions competition at the Rio 2016 Paralympics Monday. This is the second medal for the Israeli delegation, following rower Moran Samuel's bronze ['bronze' >> http://www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_article.php?id=36357] medal in the 1,000 meter race Sunday. Shaziri, 49, finished the preliminary round of competition in third place, and in the final round he also finished third with 437.5 points, earning the bronze medal, the eighth of his career. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke with Shaziri after his competition. "Congratulations, Doron, you got a direct hit! It's the eighth medal, so you are consistently successful, and I am glad the old pros are proving they've still got it, and of course the young people are proving themselves too. You moved me, you moved the people of Israel and thank you so much for making us proud. Send my regards to our wonderful delegation. Keep up the success," he said. Shaziri's accomplishment is impressive by any measure: Shaziri has been competing in the Paralympic Games since 1996. He has four silver medals, two from the 1996 Paralympic Games in Atlanta, one from the 2008 Beijing Paralympics, and another from the 2012 London Paralympics. He won a bronze medal at the 2000 Sydney games, two at the 2004 Athens Paralympics and his fourth in Rio on Monday. To understand the magnitude of Shaziri's success, one has to compare his accomplishment to other Israeli Olympic and Paralympic shooters. Although Israel has been participating in Olympic and Paralympic shooting competitions for 64 years, it wasn't until Shaziri came along that the delegation earned a medal. In fact, he won at least one medal each of the six times he competed in the Paralympic games. His medals account for eight of the nine Paralympic medals in shooting that the Israeli delegation has won in a total of 10 competitions. Shaziri lost part of his leg while serving as a sniper with the Golani Brigade after enlisting in the IDF in 1985. Two years into his service, he stepped on a land mine in Lebanon, and the blast tore off his leg from the knee down. Following an honorable discharge from the military and extensive rehabilitation, he decided to invest all his energy into shooting. He soon became one of the most prominent athletes with disabilities in the history of Israeli sports. Nearly three decades since his injury, it is clear to Shaziri that his life would be very different were it not for his handicap. "I know it sounds depraved, but in some ways, I am pretty happy about the injury," he told Israel Hayom ahead of the games.
