Israeli swimmer Yakov Toumarkin finished seventh in the men's 200-meter backstroke final at the London Olympics on Wednesday with a time of 01:57.62 minutes. Despite falling short of a medal, Toumarkin's performance was the best ever recorded by an Israeli swimmer in any Olympic Games. Toumarkin, 20, who was participating in his first Olympic Games, is also the first Israeli athlete to make it to an Olympic final so early in his career.
Peres, above, was quick to call Arik Ze'evi and lift up his spirits (click on image to play video)
The swimmer's impressive showing was the only bright spot in an otherwise bad day for Israeli sports. Earlier in the day, judoka Arik Zeevi was defeated in only 43 seconds in his first and now only appearance at this years Olympics. Andy Ram and Jonathan (Yoni) Erlich, the tennis duo who unexpectedly defeated world-renowned tennis player Roger Federer and his partner Stanislas Wawrinka on Wednesday, lost to the U.S.'s Bryan brothers, ranked in first place by the Association of Tennis Professionals.
Both the Israeli prime minister and president were quick to call Zeevi in the wake of his stunning defeat in the early stages of the elimination rounds. "Raise your head up high; thank you for such a great career," Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Zeevi. President Shimon Peres, who has had numerous electoral setbacks throughout his career, told Zeevi, "Do not to be discouraged; you brought us much honor. Those who win sometimes have to sustain blows."
Zeevi won a bronze medal in judo in the 100-kilogram class in the 2004 Athens Olympics.
Meanwhile, Israeli windsurfers are fighting to win a medal after their poor showing on Thursday. Lee Korzits is now ranked third in the overall RS-X womens competition, having finished 11th in the sixth race (she was previously ranked second). Korzits won the 2012 world championship, but has yet to win an Olympic medal.
Shahar Zubari, who won a bronze medal in the 2008 Beijing Olympics, is now all but certain to return empty-handed to Israel after being disqualified in the sixth RS-X men's race on Thursday and subsequently dropping to 10th place in the overall ranking in the competition. Zubari mistakenly began to sail before the race started, which triggered a black-flag disqualification. Zubari will now have to overcome what seems to be an insurmountable lead by the top three contenders if he wants to defend his title. Both Zubari and Korzits are to compete again on Saturday.
Gymnast Alexander Shatilov, who has had a promising start in the games so far, has a strong chance of winning a medal in the floor exercises category. He is scheduled to perform again on Sunday. Israel's Sergey Richter finished 44th on Friday's men's 50-meter rifle prone qualification round and did not advance to the final.
While Israeli athletes have yet to grab any medals in London, Jewish competitors have already won gold. New Zealand's Nathan Cohen won the men's double sculls rowing final on Thursday, along with his partner Joseph Sullivan. Earlier this week, French swimmer Fabien Gilot showcased a Hebrew tattoo on his arm following his team's victory in the men's 4 x 100-meter freestyle relay. The tattoo, which says, I am nothing without them," was written in honor of his family, and especially his grandmother's partner, a Holocaust survivor to whom he was very close but who died before the 2012 Olympics.
