An outstanding result for Israeli sailing. Tamar Steinberg is the European champion in the foil class after finishing first in a photo finish in the medal race at a competition held in Portugal. Shahar Tibi will also stand on the podium with a silver medal.
This is Steinberg’s first-ever medal at the European Championships. Last year she won silver at the World Championships in Aarhus, Denmark. A year earlier she won the U23 World Championship in Silvaplana. In both cases, she competed in the Olympic foil class.
Steinberg won the competition in a tense and hard-fought race, competing against Tibi and Olympic champion Pilar Lamadrid. The race was tight from start to finish, with Lamadrid taking the lead, but both Israelis closed the gap, moved into the top two positions and battled for gold. Steinberg crossed the finish line to win, while Tibi was crowned European runner-up. Daniela Peleg finished just off the podium in fourth place.
In the men’s final, Olympic champion Tom Reuveni finished fourth after being forced to avoid a collision at the approach to a gate, which broke him away from the leading group. Yoav Omer finished fifth.