A huge day for Israeli judo. Inbar Lanir won a gold medal at the World Judo Championship and is the first Israeli woman since Jordan Jarbi in 2014 to stand at the top of the podium in the important competition. Lanir defeated in the final the French Audrey Tachimeau ranked 4th in the world. The joyful evening was completed by Peter Palachik who, although he lost in the quarter-finals, went on to fight for the bronze from Beit HaNichiumim, where his opponent withdrew before the fight due to an injury and the Israeli won the medal without a fight.
Lanier’s final was tough and fascinating. Two minutes into the fight a mutual toss caused the judges to debate whether one of the competitors deserved an iPhone and in the end the fight continued without a score. Lanir continued with the aggressiveness and about 40 seconds later she threw the Frenchwoman with a perfect Ipon and became the world champion.
Lanir at the moment of victory | Photo: Courtesy of the European Judo Association
Lanir was happy and excited following the huge achievement and also commented on the security situation in Israel: “I am happy to dedicate my medal to the residents of the south who are going through a difficult time, to the soldiers of the IDF and to the entire State of Israel. It was so important to me to do something good in such complex and difficult days, and I am happy and happy that I succeeded.”
About the competition itself she said that “It was an amazing day and everything came together well for me at the exact and right time.
A big thank you to the team led by Shani Hershko, to coaches Ido Bar and Charles Chibana, to Moshe Ponti, the chairman of the union, and to my sponsors. Thank you to all my supportive environment, my beloved family and my partner Yonatan.”
Palchik | Photo: AP, News
The Minister of Culture and Sports, Miki Zohar, greeted:The people of Israel received amazing news just before Shabbat – our Amber Lanir won the World Judo Championship. The entire nation of Israel is proud of her victory, especially at this time it brought us all great satisfaction and happiness. Let’s just hear good news.”
--The chairman of the Israeli Olympic Committee, Yael Arad, spoke about the double achievement: “Inbar Lanir and Peter Palachik gave a huge performance today at the World Championships in Doha. Amber’s wonderful judo and exceptional determination flooded us all with tears of happiness with 3 gold medals for Israel at the World Judo Championship and Peter’s excellent judo proved that he is at the top of the world. Congratulations to both Hershko and Oren Samadja and the Judo Union and good luck tomorrow to Raz Hershko.”
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Palacic began the second round of the championship directly in the second round, where he defeated the Japanese Kantero Ida. In the round of 16, he defeated the Russian Niaz Eliasov, but in the quarterfinals, he lost to Azeri’s Zelim Katsoyev due to disqualification. In the final of the consolation house, he defeated the Kazakh Nurlihan Sharkhan in a tough battle and went on to fight for the bronze, from which his Canadian opponent Shadi Alanhas retired, which gave Palachik the place on the podium.
Lanir also started the competition in the second round where she defeated Bita Pekot from Poland. In the eighth, she got a double score over the Slovenian Patricia Brulia and copied it in the quarter-final match against the Chinese Zanzao Maha. The huge surprise came in the semi-finals, where Ipon achieved a perfect finish on Italy’s Blendi, who is ranked number one in the world, despite being behind in points beforehand.
Palachik’s medal is the 14th in Israel’s history at the World Judo Championship. Lanir is the first woman to reach the final since Jordan Jarbi in 2014, when in between Sagi Muki qualified for the final, and also won it, in 2019.
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