Anastasia Gorbenko clinched a silver medal on Sunday in the 400-meter individual medley final at the World Aquatics Championships in Qatar. This marks Israel's first-ever medal at the World Championships in swimming.
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The Israeli athlete stopped the clock at 4:37.36 minutes (a new Israeli record), leading for most of the race and coming close to the gold medal.
Gorbenko finished just 24 hundredths of a second behind Freya Colbert of Britain, who took gold with a time of 4:37.14 minutes. Nonetheless, this achievement stands as a historic milestone for Israeli swimming.
The Qatari audience didn't appreciate Gorbenko's win and responded with jeers and boos as she was interviewed after the victory. "It means so much to me to be here with the flag of my country," Gorbenko said.
At just 20 years old, Gorbenko becomes the first Israeli ever to win a medal at the World Aquatics Championships in swimming. She previously finished fourth in the 200-meter individual medley final and twice finished fifth. She is also the only Israeli in history to reach four finals at the competition.