Final tally for the Tokyo Games is six gold medals, two silvers, and a bronze – eight in swimming and one in rowing.
Israel’s Paralympic team earned six gold medals, two silvers, and one bronze from the Tokyo Paralympics that ended September 5. Eight of those nine medals were won in swimming.
In the process, the Israelis set some new records in this Olympic competition for people with physical disabilities.
Mark Malyar, 21, earned a gold medal in the men’s 200-meter individual medley, a gold in the men’s 400m freestyle, and a bronze in the men’s 100m backstroke. He set new records for his disability category in the 200m and 400m events.
Ami Dadaon, 20, won a gold medal in the 200m freestyle, a gold in the men’s 50m freestyle, and a silver in the 150m individual medley. He set records in the 200m and 50m events in his disability category.
Iyad Shalabi, 34, became the first Arab-Israeli to win a medal in the Olympics or Paralympics for Israel. He won a gold in the men’s 50m backstroke and a gold in the men’s 100m backstroke.
All three of these swimming medalists train at Ilan Rehabilitation and Sports Center in Haifa under coach Yaacov Beininson.
The ninth medal for Team Israel was a silver earned by Moran Samuel, 39, in the women’s single 2,000-meter event. She trains with coach Paula Grizetti at the Daniel Rowing Center in Tel Aviv.
Israel’s 33-member Paralympics team (15 men, 18 women) competed in 11 sports: athletics, badminton, boccie, goalball, paracanoeing, powerlifting, rowing, shooting, swimming, table tennis, and wheelchair tennis.