'The tears came back, I cried like a child'
Artem Dolgopyat, world champion in artistic gymnastics (2023)
Artem Dolgopyat fulfilled his dream of becoming a world champion on a date the State of Israel will never forget: Oct. 7, 2023. The gymnast, who before that competition had already stood atop the podium at the Tokyo Olympics and at the European Championships, wanted to make up for the frustrating near-misses of 2017 and 2019 and arrived in peak form.
In his hotel room in Belgium, on that Black Saturday, it was 5:30 a.m. when the Red Alert app woke him from sleep. “Of all nights, I actually slept well that night, after several nights of poor sleep,” he recalled. “I woke up and didn’t understand what was happening. I went back to sleep, and an hour and a half later I woke up again and saw all the push notifications from the news channels. That put me under pressure.”
At breakfast, the entire team was talking about what was happening in southern Israel and the rockets being fired. “I asked myself how I could focus on the competition, and I came to the conclusion that either I clear everything out of my head or I don’t step onto the mat. I went up to my room, spoke with my family to make sure everything was OK, and turned off my phone.”
Before competitions, he likes to run through his routines in his head to calm his nerves. “Usually I do it five times. That day it was around a thousand. It was very hard to focus. Also, the staff that usually accompanies us hadn’t arrived at the arena yet, so I didn’t hear anything beyond what I heard at breakfast, and that helped.”
“After the routine, tears came down, and the pressure lifted,” he said. “I didn’t even look at the score, I didn’t care. I just wanted to lie on the floor.” The staff taped two black stripes onto the flag, and he decided it was time to turn his phone back on. He saw thousands of messages, most worded the same: thank you for bringing us a bit of light. “The tears started flowing again. I cried like a child.”
'I broke the glass ceiling'
Asaf Yasur, Paralympic taekwondo world champion (2021, 2023)
It happened five years ago in Istanbul. Asaf Yasur stood on the podium, eyes moist, minutes after winning the world championship — one of the greatest achievements in the history of the sport in Israel. Since then, he has repeated the feat, become a Paralympic champion and added numerous medals to his collection. But that championship in Turkey remains unforgettable, mainly for one reason.
“It was my first gold medal ever. In any competition, not just a world championship,” he recalled. “For the first time I heard the national anthem in the middle of the podium. For me, that competition was the moment when everything opened up — the glass ceiling broke. If I have to point to the moment my career took a positive turn, it was there.”
That victory was not only athletic but deeply emotional and symbolic. “First of all, I was happy to beat Turkey’s Ali Ozcan, who at the time was my biggest rival. But beyond that, to play the anthem in Istanbul — it was exceptionally moving. I think what is unique about us as Israeli athletes is the connection to the flag. When I step into the arena, I’m not just Asaf Yasur — I’m an athlete representing the State of Israel. That’s tremendous mental strength, one of the things that pushes me forward. To win, to hear ‘Hatikvah’, to place our small country in a position of honor — there’s nothing like it.”
The moments after the victory are also etched in his memory. “The reactions in Israel were crazy. I received so many messages from all over the country. That’s something unique about us — the feeling that we’re all in the same boat. I step into the arena for everyone, and when I succeed, I feel they’re with me in that moment.”
'I proved to myself that I can'
Sharon Kantor, world champion in windsurfing (2024)
Unlike other sports, a world championship in an Olympic year is a peak event where no one holds back. It determines the single representative for the Olympic Games. For Sharon Kantor, winning gold in Lanzarote in February 2024 was not just a historic title but a moment of personal and professional decision.
“One of the most emotional days I’ve ever had. It definitely had the most emotion. That’s where it was decided I would go to the Olympic Games, that I had secured my ticket. It was a stressful competition — the first time I was under extreme pressure and managed to get the maximum out of it.”
The heavy pressure accompanied her throughout, culminating in an emotional release the day before the medal race. “It moved something in me. I wasn’t indifferent — the opposite, I cared. I remember the pressure before the finals. I didn’t really think, I just performed. I wasn’t arrogant, I was very alert. Even when I won and realized I had taken the competition, I didn’t grasp the magnitude of a world championship.”
The victory came just months after Oct. 7, giving the podium moment added significance. “We train without emotion, and then when there’s a thought about the country, it really moves us. We became more sensitive to the situation. At the world championship I understood I had to keep working precisely for this: to raise the flag, stand at the top of the podium and hear ‘Hatikvah.’”
The ability to win within a strong and competitive Israeli team, against windsurfers such as Shahar Tibi and Katy Spychakov, built the foundation of belief ahead of Paris. “It was hard for me to say I’m a world champion because of the scale of the achievement, but I know that day gave me a lot in terms of coping, pressure, carrying a lot on my shoulders. I proved to myself there that I can. That’s what opened my belief that I can also do it at the Olympics.”
'The best service to the country'
Inbar Lanir, world champion in judo (2023)
For Inbar Lanir, images from the judo world championship in Doha in May 2023 now feel like a memory from another era. Lanir, who arrived at the competition as a relative outsider and stunned the judo world, remembers that day as the purest version of herself — a day of innocence, precision and rare peace of mind.
“I set a glass ceiling for myself,” she recalled. “That day was an experiment in what happens when I don’t trip myself up.” The morning before her victory began with deep anxiety. At 5 a.m., she sat in her room and wrote down her fears until reaching a liberating realization: even if she lost her first match, her self-worth would not be harmed. That mental reset allowed her to step onto the mat calm, detached from background noise such as rankings or expectations, and focused on execution.
The result was historic: a series of impressive ippons (a decisive judo victory) that ended with a gold medal, making her the second Israeli woman to win a world championship after Yarden Gerbi. “That title is too big to fully grasp. It gave me a lot of confidence going forward,” she said — a realization that accompanied her all the way to an Olympic silver medal in Paris.
On the podium in Doha, even before the events of Oct. 7, a strong sense of national mission was present. “The instinct is always to point to the flag after a win. For me, being an Israeli athlete abroad is the best service to the country.” Beyond the athletic achievement, she sees herself as a role model for girls and young women — an example of excellence and hard work in a world of reality TV heroes.
Despite the achievement, Lanir chooses not to dwell in the glory, saving the full processing of the victory for the end of her career in order to remain hungry and unsatisfied. “This championship opened a path of success for me, but I’ll save the ability to fully savor that moment for the days after judo.”
'I understood why I swim'
Ami Dadon, Paralympic swimming world champion (2022, 2023, 2025)
Ami Dadon won four gold medals at the 2023 world championship in Manchester, and they were supposed to be his farewell gift to the sport. “I didn’t want to train anymore. This would be the final note of my career, so I invested in this competition,” he recalled. “I have a 24-hour rule — whether I win or lose, you start over. It’s been with me since my disqualification in Tokyo. I was disqualified in my first race at the Paralympic Games, and since then every medal is a new story.”
He finished that competition with four new stories — and another one that began to write itself on the way to a moment etched in national memory at the Paris Games, where he sang the anthem with pride. The first chapter in that story began on Oct. 7, as Dadon was still debating whether to retire.
“That day completely changed my perspective,” he said. “I will never again be able to separate the national aspect from the personal and athletic one, like I could before. Until then, I was sure no one in Israel cared about my sport. After that year, which also included Paris, reality proved me wrong. I received so much love and support. I understood what I bring to the pool, why I actually swim.”
Dadon feels that in every competition he is the face of Israel, but especially at world championships. “It’s in the anthem and after it. Being the person who represents the country most at that moment. It means being the best at what I do — sharp, strong, fast. Being the most prepared athlete, because at the highest levels all athletes are talented and good. The title of world champion means you were the most prepared in that situation. The 8-year-old Ami would be the proudest in the world of who I am now. That’s what comforts me most in difficult times like those we’ve experienced in recent weeks.”