Israeli Equestrian Show Jumping Squad To Compete In Olympics For First Time
Daniel Bluman of Israel riding Ladriano Z competes in the individual jumping equestrian on the final day of the Masters tournament at Spruce Meadows on September 9, 2018 in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Image by Derek Leung/Getty Images
JERUSALEM (JTA) — An Israeli team will compete in equestrian show jumping for the first time at the Olympics.
Israel’s four-rider squad, including a woman from New York and a man who twice represented his native Colombia, qualified Sunday for the 2020 Tokyo Games, narrowly defeating Poland during the Olympic qualifier in Moscow.
Along with Poland and the host Russia, the Israelis competed against teams from Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan and Kyrgyzstan in cold and rainy conditions. In show jumping, horse and rider jump over a series of obstacles inside a riding ring.
Daniel Bluman, born in Colombia and raised in Florida, competed in the 2012 and 2016 Olympics with the Colombian team before deciding to represent Israel.
Danielle Goldstein Waldman, a native New Yorker who received Israeli citizenship in 2010, was married a month before the event and lives with her husband, a fellow show jumper, in The Netherlands. Goldstein Waldman is known for the dozens of feathers she often weaves into her hair, as well as her equestrian skills.
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