Jump to content

Gal Fridman

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Gal Fridman
Israeli Olympic gold medalist Gal Fridman in 2004
Personal information
Born(1975-09-16)September 16, 1975(age 49)
Karkur, Israel
Height1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)[1]
Weight68 kg (150 lb)[1]
Other interestsCycling[1]
Sport
CountryIsrael
SportSailing
EventMistral
ClubSdot Yam
Coached byMike Gebhardt
Retired2008
Achievements and titles
Olympic finalsGold(2004)
World finalsGold(2002)
Regional finalsSilver(1995, 2002)
Highest world ranking1st (Mistral, 2003)
25th (RS:X,2007)
Medal record
Sailing
RepresentingIsrael
Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place 2004 Athens Mistral
Bronze medal – third place 1996 Atlanta Mistral
World Championships
Gold medal – first place 2002 Pattaya Mistral
Silver medal – second place 1996 Haifa Mistral
Bronze medal – third place 2003 Cádiz Mistral
European Championships
Silver medal – second place 1995 Isle of Wight Mistral
Silver medal – second place 2002 Neusiedlersee Mistral
Bronze medal – third place 1997 Murcia Mistral
Bronze medal – third place 2001 Marseille Mistral
Updated on 8 August 2012

Gal Fridman(or Friedman,Hebrew:גל פרידמן;born September 16, 1975) is an Israeliwindsurferand Israel's firstOlympicgold medalist.Fridman won aBronze Medalin theAtlanta 1996 Summer Olympics,and a gold medal in theAthens 2004 Summer Olympics.He is the first of two Israelisathletesto win two Olympic Medals, and the first Olympic Gold medalist in Israeli history. His first name, Gal, means "wave" inHebrew.

He was born inKarkur, Israel,and lives close to the water inSdot Yam,a nearbykibbutz.

Early life and career

[edit]

Fridman was born inKarkur,Israel,to anAshkenazi Jewishfamily.[2]The second of three children, Fridman was born to Dganit and Uri Fridman, and has an older sister, Maayan and a younger brother, Yuval. Growing up close to the Mediterranean Sea, Gal was introduced by his father towindsurfing.Fridman started sailing at age seven, and began racing when he was 11. He began competing internationally in youth categories while still in school. After his service in theIsrael Defense Forceshe began competing as an adult.[3]

In 1995, he won the ASA Boardsailing Championship inEilat, Israel.In 1999, he won the International ASA Windsurfing Championship in Eilat. In 2002, he won the Mistral World Championship held in Pattaya,Thailand,[3]and was ranked #1 on theInternational Sailing Federationrankings in February 2003.[4]

1996 Summer Olympic Games, Atlanta

[edit]
Main article:Sailing at the 1996 Summer Olympics

At the1996 Summer Olympics,Fridman won a bronze medal for Israel in the Olympic Sailing Windsurfing Event (Mistral Men's Windsurfing category), and was named Israeli Sportsman of the Year.[3]

2000 Summer Olympics, Sydney, Australia

[edit]
Main article:Sailing at the 2000 Summer Olympics

Despite his form in the previous years, he failed to win the Israeli Olympic Trials and did not represent Israel in theSydney 2000 Olympics.Amit Inbar represented Israel in the 2000 Olympics and finished 7th overall.

2004 Summer Olympics, Athens, Greece

[edit]
Main article:Sailing at the 2004 Summer Olympics
Fridman receives a certificate from Prime MinisterAriel Sharonat a reception for the Olympic athletes' return from the Athens 2004 Olympic Games at "Beit Hanassi" in Jerusalem.

Back on form leading up to the 2004 Olympics, Fridman was one of Israel's Olympic Team favorites to win a Medal (along withjudokaAriel Ze'eviand athleteAleksander Averbukh), and prepared intensively for the Olympic Games two years prior to the event. At the2004 Summer Olympics,Fridman again competed in the Olympic windsurfing discipline of sailing (Mistral Windsurfer Class), a discipline that included 11 races.

Fridman was coached by retired Olympic windsurfing silver (1992) and bronze medalist (1988) Michael Gebhardt from the U.S.

Race 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
Place (8) 3 5 5 1 7 5 1 8 5 2

(Note:the worst race score is thrown out)

In the last race on August 25, 2004, Fridman finished a hard-fought 2nd, exploiting a tactical mistake made by Brazilian leaderRicardo Santosand beat Greek windsurferNikolaos Kaklamanakisin order to end the Olympic Regatta with the lowest score of 42 points, which secured his 2004 Olympic gold medal in windsurfing. Olympic sailing events scores are tabulated with the lowest score (best results combines) winning. Fridman won Israel's first Olympic gold medal.

Fridman dedicated his medal to the memory of the 11 Israeli athletesmurderedby terrorists during the1972 Summer Olympics.[5]

Final results

1st: Gal Fridman –Israel(Gold medal)

2nd:Nikolaos Kaklamanakis– Greece (Silver medal)

3rd:Nick Dempsey– Great Britain (Bronze medal)

4th:Ricardo Santos– Brazil

5th:Przemysław Miarczyński– Poland

2008 Summer Olympics, Beijing, China

[edit]
Main article:Sailing at the 2008 Summer Olympics

Approaching the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Fridman found it hard to adjust to the new Olympic Windsurf board model, the RS:X Neil Pryde windsurfer. Also he had some crucial equipment failures at key Olympic trail regattas and failed to qualify for the 2008 Israeli Olympic Sailing Team.Shahar Tzuberitook his place and went on to win the 2008 Olympic bronze medal for Israel.

Later years; cycling and coaching

[edit]

Fridman, an avid cyclist, won a gold medal in the Israeli cycling championship in 2005.[6]In 2007, he won the Men's Windsurfer New Year International Regatta in Limassol,Cyprus.

After 2008, Fridman retired from competition in windsurfing and focused on coaching up-and-coming Israeli windsurfers. He guidedNimrod Mashiahto the silver medal in the 2009 World Championship.[7]

He coachesTom Reuveny,who became the Olympic champion winning the gold medal, at 24 years of age, representingIsrael at the 2024 Paris Olympicsin windsurfing in theMen's iQFoilinMarseille,France.[8]

Hall of Fame

[edit]

In 2005, Fridman was named to theInternational Jewish Sports Hall of Fame.[4]

Achievements

[edit]
Year Tournament Result
1995 Mistral European Championship 2nd
1996 Mistral World Championship 2nd
1996 Olympic Games, Atlanta 3rd
1997 Mistral European Championship 3rd
1999 International ASA Windsurfing Championship 1st
2001 Mistral European Championship 3nd
2002 Mistral European Championship 2nd
2002 Mistral World Championship,Thailand 1st
2003 ISAFWorld Championship 3rd
2004 Olympic Games, Athens 1st

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^abEvans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen;Mallon, Bill;et al."Gal Fridman".Olympics at Sports-Reference.com.Sports Reference LLC.Archived fromthe originalon April 17, 2020.RetrievedAugust 8,2012.
  2. ^Taylor, Paul (July 1, 2004)."A Complete Review of Jewish Olympic Medallists".Jews and the Olympic Games: The Clash between Sport and Politics.Brighton, United Kingdom: Sussex Academic Press. p. 229.ISBN978-1903900871.LCCN2004000498.OCLC54046723.OL8769453M.RetrievedAugust 8,2012.
  3. ^abc"Gal Fridman, 1975–".Jewish Agency for Israel. Archived fromthe originalon July 2, 2007.RetrievedMay 23,2014.
  4. ^ab"Gal Fridman".International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame. Archived fromthe originalon October 8, 2007.RetrievedAugust 7,2012.
  5. ^Bialik, Carl; Fry, Jason (August 26, 2004)."Gold Medal for Israel's Fridman Comes With Memories of Munich"– via www.wsj.com.
  6. ^"Gal Fridman".RetrievedAugust 7,2012.
  7. ^"Israel's Nimrod Mashiah wins silver at windsurfing world championship".Haaretz.September 10, 2009.RetrievedAugust 8,2012.
  8. ^Joshua Halickman (August 4, 2024)"Golden Tom Reuveny shocks the nation; You brought us a great light. our anthem was played, Hatikva, hope, for the first time in these Olympics in France, President Isaac Herzog told Tom Reuveny,"The Jerusalem Post.
[edit]
Wikimedia Commons has media related toGal Fridman.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Gal_Fridman&oldid=1241083974"