Windsurfer is Israel's biggest hope for Olympic medal

Women's RS:X windsurfing double world champion Lee Korzits hopes her affinity with the waves will produce an Olympic podium finish as Israel's leading medal contender at the 2012 Games.

The 28-year-old Korzits said she was ready to carry Israeli medal aspirations at the sailing regatta in Weymouth on England's south coast in July and August, although she hoped her fans would understand if she didn't reach the podium.

"I go to London like a favorite and I train really hard to be good and to keep the top but, you know, I cannot sign that I am going to be in the medals. But I can sign that I will work hard and I will try all my best. And all the energy from the people that want that I would win I will take for me. And I hope that they will be happy with me if I win and will understand if I will not win," she said.

If Korzits lives up to her fans' expectations, she would be the third Israeli to win a windsurfing medal: Gal Fridman won bronze in Atlanta and gold in Athens; and Shahar Tzuberi won bronze in Beijing.

Perhaps no less important, she would become the first Israeli woman to ascend the Olympic podium since judoka Yael Arad won the first such medal, a silver in Barcelona in 1992.

Israel first participated in the Olympics in Helsinki in 1952, but had to wait 40 years for that first medal. Since Arad's silver and another judo bronze in 1992, windsurfing has become the Jewish state's most successful Olympic sport.

Korzits said she could expect tough competition from her usual rivals, among them Zofia Noceti-klepacka of Poland, Marina Alabau of Spain and Britain's Bryony Shaw. She added that she knew that anything could happen at the Olympics.

The vivacious, straight-talking Israeli won her first world championship in the Mistral class in Cadiz, Spain in 2003 and went to the Athens Games the next year expecting to fulfill her nation's hopes, but she finished halfway down the field in 13th position.

Korzits didn't qualify for Beijing in 2008, but after her back-to-back world titles in the past two years (2011-12), she said she was ready to deliver a rare glittering prize for Israeli sport.

In the "Sail for Gold" regatta in Weymouth last year she finished third. Korzits said she expected the conditions to suit her again, although the temperate waters of the English Channel are not to her liking.

Korzits's coach, Ben Finkelstein, said he was hoping the windy conditions that are more prevalent in Weymouth would give his charge an advantage, although a big part of her preparations has been to be competitive also in light winds.

"Lately, especially after the last world championship in Spain, we started to train a lot, very intensely. We have lots of energy to prepare for the Olympics. Now we are also planning to travel to England, to Weymouth to train there, our hunger to reach our goal is very strong," Finkelstein said.

Over the last two years, Korzits has suffered two serious injuries that almost scuppered her career when she was hit by rivals. She almost drowned, but said the experiences made her realize people were more of a threat than the elements.

In one instance, in Hawaii, another surfer who did not see her because she was hidden by a tall wave crashed into her from behind, cracking two of her ribs and fracturing a bone in her leg. She had to be pulled to safety by another surfer.

In the other, at the 2010 European championships in Poland, a fellow competitor knocked her off her board, causing her to be trapped underneath sails and unable to get out. She briefly lost consciousness and had to be rescued by one of the accompanying coaches who was in a nearby motorboat.

Finkelstein, who is also a childhood friend, said Korzits' most important asset was her knowledge of the sea and her ability to predict wind and wave patterns, improving her control of her sailboard.

She has been a sea-loving and extreme sports enthusiast since a very young age and followed in the wake of her older brother, Tom, who also watches her coaching closely and is involved in rearing young windsurfing talent.

Korzits grew up and lives in Michmoret, a quiet Mediterranean town north of Tel Aviv and a place that has produced a number of top Israeli athletes over the years.

The town's small harbor is a haven for her. Because it is on the premises of a maritime school, access is limited only to authorized persons.

For supplemental training, Korzits cycles.

Korzits said that security concerns at the Games were probably her biggest worry, although she tried not to let it bother her.

"We cannot avoid that we are Jewish, we are Israelis, we are not friends with all of the countries. I try to take it out because we are doing a sport and sports is something really clean and I hope that all the other countries that they are not in peace with us will understand that this place (the Olympics) is the place to show all the other people how strong is the sport and how peaceful it is," she said.

טעינו? נתקן! אם מצאתם טעות בכתבה, נשמח שתשתפו אותנו