Yael Arad

Yael Arad

Yael Arad in 2009

Yael Arad in 2009
Personal information
Born (1967-05-01) May 1, 1967
Tel Aviv, Israel
Residence Israel
Spouse(s) Lior Kahane (m. 1995)
Sport
Sport Judo
Division(s) middle-weight
Medal record
Women's Judo
Representing  Israel
Olympic Games
1992 Barcelona 61 kg[1]
World Championships
1993 Hamilton 61 kg
1991 Barcelona 61 kg
European Championships
1993 Athens 61 kg
1989 Helsinki 61 kg
1991 Prague 61 kg
Updated on February 11, 2014.

Yael Arad (Hebrew: יעל ארד‎‎) (born May 1, 1967) is an Israeli judoka.

She was the first Israeli to win an Olympic medal.[2] She is widely recognized as one of Israel's most successful athletes and is credited with bringing judo into the athletic mainstream.

Biography

Yael Arad, who is Jewish,[3] was born in Tel Aviv. She started taking judo classes at the age of eight and within half a year, ranked second in Israel in her weight class.[4] She later trained with the coach of the men's judo team.[5] In 1995, Arad married Lior Kahane.[4]

International judo career

Barcelona Olympic Medalists Oren Smadja and Yael Arad pose with the Deputy Education Minister, M.K. Micha Goldman.

Arad won her first international title in 1984 at the age of 17, competing as a middleweight.[5] She came in 7th in the world judo championships in Vienna. In 1989, 1990 and 1991, she won medals in the European championships.[6] To hone her skills, she underwent training in Japan.[5]

Arad was the first Israeli athlete to win an Olympic medal when she competed at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona. She won the silver medal in the half middleweight competition.[7] She lost to Catherine Fleury of France. Arad dedicated the medal to the victims of the 1972 Munich Massacre.[8]

In 1993, she won a gold medal in the European championships. In the world championships that year, she lost in the finals to Gella van de Caveye of Belgium, taking home a silver medal.[6]

She was chosen to light the torch at the 1993 Maccabiah Games.[9] She finished in second place at the 1993 World and European Championships and fifth at the 1995 World Championships.

At the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, Arad lost to Jung Sung-Sook of Korea, competing for the bronze.[4] She went into the fight sick with a virus and ended up in fifth place.[10]

She served as judo coach for Israel in the 2000 Sydney Olympics, and coached Israeli judoka Olympian Orit Bar-On.[11]

Olympic medal

After winning her Olympic medal, Arad wrote:

Thursday, July 30, 1992. A fateful day, a watershed day, a day of fame, a day of self-fulfillment. A day that required fifteen years of hard work, endless investment and hidden self-confidence. The day I won the Olympic silver medal. My medal. The first medal of the State of Israel. … I went onto the mat like a stormy wind, after a warm-up that drove from my body all the little demons that threatened to defeat me even before it all began. The first match was against a woman from Spain who had already defeated me twice in the past, but it was clear to me that this time she had no chance. I went off after four minutes, the winner. The second match was against a woman from the Czech Republic. We knew each other well and we both knew I was better. The victory over her contributed a bit more to building confidence for the tough and significant match of the day. Four minutes were all that stood between myself and my life’s dream. … When the match started, the semi-finals, I was there with all my battle gear. And suddenly, it was all over. I had won. … Emotionally it was the highest moment of my life and despite my losing later in the finals the victory in the semi-finals against the woman from Germany was the sweetest of all. That day I changed from a person who wanted to a person who could. And that made all the difference.[6]

Retirement

After retiring from the sport, Arad continued with judo as a coach and sports entrepreneur. Today she holds a key management position in a children's product company and serves as a TV commentator at judo competitions.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Yael Arad Olympic medals and stats". Databaseolympics.com. January 5, 1967. Archived from the original on August 15, 2011. Retrieved January 7, 2011.
  2. ↑ "Yael Arad – biography". Jewish Virtual Library. Retrieved January 7, 2011.
  3. ↑ Paul Taylor (2004). Jews and the Olympic Games: The Clash Between Sport and Politics : with a Complete Review of Jewish Olympic Medallists. Sussex Academic Press. p. 223. ISBN 9781903900871. Retrieved April 12, 2015.
  4. 1 2 3 "Medal is lost, but mourning ends for Israel". Webcache.googleusercontent.com. Retrieved January 7, 2011.
  5. 1 2 3 Arfa, Orit. "Sporting heroes for 60 years". Jerusalem Post. Retrieved January 7, 2011.
  6. 1 2 3 "Sport: Yishuv to the Present". Webcache.googleusercontent.com. Archived from the original on November 25, 2010. Retrieved January 7, 2011.
  7. ↑ "Israel Speakers Center, Yael Arad". Hamartzim.co.il. Retrieved January 7, 2011.
  8. ↑ ".". Jews in Sports. Retrieved January 7, 2011.
  9. ↑ "Maccabiah 18". Webcache.googleusercontent.com. Archived from the original on October 4, 2011. Retrieved January 7, 2011.
  10. ↑ "Yael and Oren are still heroes". Jerusalem Post. Retrieved January 7, 2011.
  11. ↑ "Orit Bar-On, Judoka, JudoInside".

Further reading

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