Israel's delegation to London 2012 will walk through the Olympic stadium in Stratford on Friday night, exactly 60 years after the first Israeli delegation participated in its first-ever Olympics. At the 1952 Helsinki Olympics, Israel was represented by a team of 22 men and three women. In 1976 in Montreal, Esther Roth was the first Israeli to qualify for an Olympic final. She finished sixth in the 100m hurdles at Olympic Games. London 2012 also marks the 20 anniversary of Israel's first-ever Olympic medal: In the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, Yael Arad won the silver in the half middleweight judo final and Shay Oren Smadga took bronze in the half lightweight class. Windsurfer Gal Fridman is Israel's only Olympic champion to date. He won gold at the Athens 2004 Olympic Games, to add to the bronze he collected at Atlanta in 1996. In the last Olympic Games in Beijing, Israel came home with one medal, a bronze won by windsurfer Shahar Zubari. This year also marks another far more solemn anniversary: 40 years since the Munich massacre in which 11 members of the Israeli team were murdered by Palestinian terrorists. The Israel 21C website has put together a great series of videos introducing some of the Israeli hopefuls to the XXX Olympiad.
Sprinter Donald Sanford
Windsurfer Shahar Zubari
Tennis player Shahar Peer
Judoka Alice Schlesinger
Sailor Vered Buskila
Swimmer Imri Ganiel
Gymnast Neta Rivkin
Judoka Arik Zeevi
Judoka Golan Pollack
Judoka Iosef Palelashvili
Swimmer Amit Ivry
Paralympian Handcyclist Nati Gruberg
