Ariel "Arik" Ze'evi(Hebrew:אריאל "אריק" זאבי,born 16 January 1977) is a retiredIsraelidan 6 black belt injudo.He had a long and successful career competing in half-heavyweight judo competitions. He won an Olympic bronze medal at the2004 Summer Olympicsin themen's 100 kgjudo competition.[1]
Biography
editZe'evi isJewish,[2]and was born and raised inBnei Brak,Israel, a predominantly Orthodox Jewish city in theTel Aviv metropolitanarea.
While growing up, he trained in the local judo club in his neighborhood, together with his older brother, Roni, who was also the club's first local gold medal pioneer after having finished first in the national Israeli Judo Championships. Ze'evi, heavily influenced by his brother and his accomplishment, began training intensively, and at the age of 15 won his first national competition in the adult class, becoming the country's youngest champion ever. Despite the lack of advanced training facilities, Ze'evi continued training in his local club and steadily closed the gap to world class level, and began competing abroad.
In his personal life, Ze'evi obtained aLLBdegree fromReichman University(formerlyInterdisciplinary Center Herzliya) inHerzliya.
He also hosted a sports television show for theIsraeli Broadcasting Authority.
Judo career
editZe'evi won a bronze medal in judo in the U95 at the1997 Maccabiah Games.[3]
Ze'evi placed 5th competing forIsrael at the 2000 Summer Olympicsin themen's –100 kgdivision, before winning abronze medalrepresentingIsrael at the 2004 Summer OlympicsinAthensin themen's –100 kgdivision.[4]
Ze'evi is the2001,2003,2004and2012European championand the2005silver medalist. He has also won four bronze medals in European Championships. Ze'evi also won the silver medal in theopen categoryat the2001 World Championships.
Ze'evi missed the2005 World championshipsinCairodue to a shoulder injury, and subsequently underwent surgery to repair the damage.[5]
RepresentingIsrael at the 2008 Summer Olympicsin Beijing, Ze'evi failed to win a medal after losing his second match in therepechage bracket.Ze'evi told the Israeli media he does not want to end his career without a victory (probably hinting at the Judo World Championships in 2009).[citation needed]
According to theInternational Judo Federation's World Ranking List, as of April 2012, Ze'evi was ranked #8.[citation needed]
Ze'evi became a European champion for the fourth time in 2012, winning the competition in Chelyabinsk, Russia.
Achievements
edit| Year | Tournament | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 1999 | World Championships | 5th |
| European Championships | 3rd | |
| 2000 | Summer Olympics | 5th |
| 2001 | European Championships | 1st |
| World Championships | 2nd | |
| 2002 | European Championships | 5th |
| 2003 | European Championships | 1st |
| 2004 | Olympic Qualification Championship | 1st |
| European Championships | 1st | |
| Summer Olympics | 3rd | |
| 2005 | World Cup,Tallinn(Estonia) | 3rd |
| European Championships | 2nd | |
| 2007 | European Championships | 3rd |
| 2008 | World Cup Tour,Prague(Czech Republic) | 1st |
| European Championships | 3rd | |
| 2009 | European Championships | 5th |
| 2010 | European Championships | 3rd |
| Grand Slam Tokyo | 2nd | |
| 2011 | European Championships | 7th |
| Grand Slam Moscow | 1st | |
| 2012 | European Championships | 1st |
See also
editReferences
edit- ^Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen;Mallon, Bill;et al."Ariel Ze'evi".Olympics at Sports-Reference.Sports Reference LLC.Archived fromthe originalon 4 December 2016.
- ^"Jews in the Olympics: 63 Athletes from 7 Countries".Jewish Federation of St. Louis. Archived fromthe originalon 7 April 2012.
- ^"JudoInside - Maccabiah Games Tel Aviv Event".
- ^"Judoka Arik Ze'evi earns Israel its first medal at Games".Archived from the original on 10 March 2008.Retrieved13 January2008.
{{cite web}}:CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)Haaretz,19 August 2004 - ^Judo / Ze'evi begins physical therapy but will miss championshipsHaaretz, 22 August 2007
External links
edit
- Official website
(in Hebrew) - Ariel Ze'eviat theInternational Judo Federation
- Ariel Ze'eviat JudoInside
- Ariel Ze'eviat AllJudo.net(in French)
- Ariel Ze'eviatOlympics
- Ariel Ze'eviatOlympedia
- Ariel Ze'eviat theOlympic Committee of Israel(archived)(in Hebrew)
- Ariel Ze'eviat The-Sports.org
- Ariel Ze'eviat databaseOlympics (archived)
