Achievements for Israel – already on the first day of the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games. The 22-year-old Taekwondo fighter Assaf Yassur, who won the World Championship and the European Championship last year, won a gold medal yesterday (Thursday) after defeating a Turkish opponent in the final. He qualified for the final of the Olympic tournament, thanks to a victory over Xing Wen Xiao from Taipei. This is the first medal of the Israeli fighter in the Paralympic Games.
Assaf Yassur won a gold medal Photo: Keren Isaacson
Assaf Yassur won a gold medal Photo: Keren Isaacson
In the final, Yassaur met the Turkish Eli Ozcan, ranked 2nd in the world – with only Yassaur himself above him. The battle was very close and a minute to the end the fighters were still in a 9:9 situation, but then Yassur woke up, raising his level to a great 12:18 at the end. As soon as the fight was over, Yassor ran wild and climbed into the stands where his family hoisted him on his shoulders
Yassur looked excellent in the semi-finals and took the lead at the start of the fight, leaving no chance for his opponent. The gap just kept growing until the 6:16 victory. Quite a bit of history was recorded by the coach of the Israel national team, Yachiam Sharabi. Sharabi, who also trains Avishag Samberg, became the first ever in Israeli sports to win an Olympic and Paralympic medal.
Assaf Yassur Photo: reuters Assaf Yassour, the Paralympic Games Photo: Keren Isaacson
With the victory, Yassur said: “Three years since Tokyo I waited for this moment and now I have no words. Thank you to the people of Israel and everyone who accompanied me. I knew that the gold was in my mouth and no one would take it from me. Only my family and my country mattered to me. Almost 10 years have passed The injury is behind me. I set myself the goal of becoming the best taekwondo fighter in the world. It’s the least I can do for her. I pray that the abductees return home safely.”
Similar to Tom Reuveni who won a gold medal at the Olympic Games, Assaf Yassur will also receive a grant of one million shekels from the Ministry of Sports for winning the gold medal.
Assaf Yassur Photo: Keren Isaacson Assaf Yassur, the Paralympic Games Photo: Keren Isaacson
President Yitzhak Herzog congratulated: “You are an inspiration to the war wounded, you gave hope to an entire country and I send you a hug on behalf of the entire people of Israel.” On Network X, the president wrote: “Yasor brought great pride to the State of Israel at the Paris Olympics. Asaf – the whole country is excited with you.”
Yassur moved the country when 9 years ago, just before his Bar Mitzvah, he lost both hands in an accident after touching an electric cable after trying to save a football in the town where he grew up. Despite the accident, he dedicated his life to Taekwondo and since then has had many achievements, with the peak coming in the last year with the rights in the World and European Championships and in fact almost never lost in the last year.
Yasor with the medal at the World Championship Photo: The Israeli Taekwondo Association
Yassur’s first opponent in the weight category up to 58 kg was Tanwa Kaankham from Thailand, who is ranked eighth in the world. Yassur completely dominated the fight, his opponent scored points almost exclusively through penalties suffered by the Israeli, and at the end of the 5 minutes of the fight the result was unequivocal for Yassur – 6:23 , on the way to the semi-finals.
At 20:50 Ami Dedown will jump into the pool for the 50 meter breaststroke final. Dedown won 3 medals at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games, 2 gold and one silver, but not in this race. He even set a world record in the 200 meter freestyle, an achievement he will try to repeat in the coming days in the following games.
Assaf Yassur won a gold medal Photo: Keren Isaacson
The one who opened the events for the Israeli delegation this morning is bocce player (a kind of Paralympic petanque) Nadav Levy, who beat an opponent from the Netherlands 2:7 in the first game of the group stage. Levy was supposed to meet an opponent from Tunisia tomorrow, but he withdrew due to the fact that he was drawn to the house with an Israeli, so his next match will be on Saturday against a Brazilian opponent, in the battle for the place in the next stage.
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