Gal Fridman
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Olympic medalist | |||
 Gal Fridman in action |
|||
| Medal record | |||
| Men's sailing | |||
|---|---|---|---|
Competitor for  Israel |
|||
| Gold | 2004 Athens | mistral | |
| Bronze | 1996 Atlanta | mistral | |
Gal Fridman (Hebrew: גל פרידמן; born September 16, 1975) is an Israeli windsurfer and Olympic gold medalist.
He was born in Hadera, Israel and is living in nearby Karkur.
Fridman won a bronze medal at the Atlanta 1996 Summer Olympics, and a gold medal at the Athens 2004 Summer Olympics.
He is the only Israeli athlete to win two olympic medals, and the first gold medalist in Israeli history.
Fittingly, his first name, Gal, means "wave" in Hebrew.
Contents |
[edit] Early life & windsurfing career
Fridman started sailing at age 7, and racing at age 11. His earliest international competitions were in youth categories during his school years (1989, 1991), after which he served in the IDF and began competing in adult categories.
In 1995 he won the ASA Boardsailing Championship in Eilat, Israel.
In 1999 he won the International ASA Windsurfing Championship in Eilat.
He did not participate in the Sydney 2000 Olympics, due to illness.
In 2002, he won the Mistral World Championship in Pattaya, Thailand.
In February 2003, Fridman was listed # 1 on the International Surfing Association Federation rankings.
In 2004, he won silver medal at the European Championships.
[edit] Athletic achievements
| Medal | Event | Year |
|---|---|---|
| Silver | European Championship | 1995 |
| Silver | World Championship | 1996 |
| Bronze | Atlanta Olympics | 1996 |
| Bronze | European Championship | 1997 |
| ? | International ASA Windsurfing Championship | 1999 |
| Silver | Mistral European Championship | 2002 |
| ? | Mistral World Championship | 2002 |
| Bronze | ISAF World Championship | 2003 |
| Gold | Athens Olympics | 2004 |
[edit] Atlanta 1996
In 1996, Gal won an Olympic bronze medal for windsurfing, and was named Israeli Sportsman of the Year.
[edit] Athens 2004
Fridman was one of Israel's Olympic team favorites to a win a medal (along with judoka Ariel Zeevi and athlete Alex Averbukh), and prepared for the Olympic games for two years prior to the event.
In Athens, Fridman competed in Mistral windsurfer sailing, a discipline that included 11 races. Fridman's results were:
| Race | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Place | (8) | 3 | 5 | 5 | 1 | 7 | 5 | 1 | 8 | 5 | 2 |
(Note: the worst race score is omitted)
On the last race on August 25, 2004, Fridman exploited a poor performance by Brazilian leader Ricardo Santos and a tactical mistake by Greek windsurfer Nikolaos Kaklamanakis in order to burst forward and finish the final race second, thus earning the gold medal overall. He achieved an overall total of 50 negative points, and a net total of 42 negative points. As this was the lowest negative score in the competition, Fridman earned first place and received the first gold medal ever won for Israel.
Final positions:
- Gal Fridman - Israel (gold medal)
- Nikolaos Kaklamanakis - Greece (silver medal)
- Nick Dempsey - Great Britain (bronze medal)
- Ricardo Santos - Brazil
- Przemysław Miarczyński - Poland
The President of Israel, Moshe Katsav, the Israeli Prime Minister, Ariel Sharon, and other senior Israeli officials and politicians called Fridman to congratulate him. The minister of Education, Culture, and Sports, Limor Livnat, flew to Athens for the awards ceremony.
He dedicated his medal to the memory of the 11 Israeli athletes assassinated by members of the Black September organization, during the Munich Olympics (1972).
[edit] Career after 2004 Olympics
Fridman won a gold medal in the Israeli cycling championship in 2005.[1]
In 2007, he won the Men's Windsurfer New Year International Regatta in Limassol, Cyprus.
[edit] Hall of Fame
Fridman was inducted into the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame in 2005.[2]
