The Jewish Sport Report: A Jewish recap of the opening week of the 2024 Paris Olympics
L-R: Nick Itkin, Claire Weinstein, Jemima Montag and Raz Hershko all won medals this week at the 2024 Paris Olympics. (Getty Images)
(JTA) — Hello and happy Friday! We are officially one week into the 2024 Paris Olympics, and there’s plenty of news to recap — from several Jewish medalists to security threats against Israel’s delegation.
Let’s dig in.
These 10 Jews have won medals at the Paris Olympics
The biggest Jewish story of the 2024 Paris Olympics so far may be Jessica Fox, the Australian canoe paddler who added two gold medals to her already unmatched legacy as the greatest in the sport’s history. Fox won gold in both the kayak and canoe events, bringing her career record to six medals — three of them gold — which is the most individual medals ever won by an Australian.
And she’s not done yet: Fox is competing, alongside her sister Noemi Fox, in the brand-new kayak cross event, which begins with time trials this morning, followed by the first round tomorrow.
So far, Fox has been joined at this year’s Jewish Paris podium by U.S. rugby player Sarah Levy, U.S. fencers Nick Itkin, Jackie Dubrovich and Maia Weintraub, Israeli judokas Raz Hershko, Inbar Lanir and Peter Paltchik, Australian racewalker Jemima Montag and U.S. swimmer Claire Weinstein. Together, counting team events, they have 10 medals: three golds, three silvers and four bronzes. As of Friday afternoon Eastern Time, that’s a higher medal count than all but nine countries.
Itkin, Dubrovich and Weintraub are three of this year’s six American Jewish fencers — nearly a third of the U.S. team competing in Paris.
Weinstein’s silver, meanwhile, came while she was swimming alongside the legendary Katie Ledecky, who won her 13th medal, the most ever by a U.S. woman, passing three U.S. Olympians who had each won 12. One of those was Dara Torres, the all-time Jewish Olympic medal leader. (Ledecky was raised Catholic but has Jewish heritage — including family members who died in the Holocaust.)
Israelis were able to celebrate on Thursday when two of their Olympians medaled in judo, Israel’s strongest Olympic sport. Paltchik took bronze, while silver medalist Lanir has gotten acclaim back home for her conduct on the mat and off: In a viral Facebook post, a neighbor recounted how Lanir stopped by shortly after Oct. 7 to cook and babysit her kids. Only later did the mom realize that the person saved in her phone as “Inbar babysitter” was an Olympian.
Otherwise, Israelis have had a tougher time on and off the field. The delegation has faced death threats, social media doxxing and antisemitic chants and gestures at a soccer match. And a since-debunked video went viral that appeared to show a Hamas member threatening that “rivers of blood will flow through the streets of Paris” because of Israel’s inclusion in the Olympics.
That isn’t the only misinformation to spread about Israel at the Games. Two viral posts circulated this week depicting Israeli Olympians sharing “Bring them home”-themed messages. But neither is actually from the Olympics.
Click here for all our Paris 2024 coverage.
2024 Olympics Scorecard
Here’s your weekly rundown of Jewish and Israeli Olympians’ results and schedule.
⚽ Israel’s soccer team, which was competing in its first Olympics since 1976, was eliminated this week after going winless in three games.
🥋 Israel’s judo mixed team, which won a bronze medal at the Tokyo Olympics, will compete tomorrow morning.
🛶 Jessica and Noemi Fox will partake in the Olympic debut of the kayak cross event, with the first round scheduled to begin Saturday at 9:30 a.m. ET.
🤺 Nick Itkin will look to add to his medal count Sunday at 5:50 a.m. ET in the men’s foil team competition, when the U.S. takes on Egypt.
🤼♀️ Amit Elor takes the mat in the women’s wrestling 68-kilogram event, Monday at 9 a.m. ET.
Check out our full schedule of Jewish and Israeli Olympians’ events here.
Halftime report
BELLA’S MEA CULPA. Palestinian-American activist Bella Hadid said she regretted modeling for Adidas’ 1972 Munich Olympics-inspired sneaker line, saying she did not know about the murder of 11 Israelis at those Games. “I would never knowingly engage with any art or work that is linked to a horrific tragedy of any kind,” Hadid said. “In advance of the campaign’s release, I had no knowledge of the historical connection to the atrocious events in 1972. I am shocked, I am upset, and I am disappointed in the lack of sensitivity that went into this campaign.”
A NEW SWAMP FOR SCHRECK. No Jewish MLB players switched teams ahead of Tuesday evening’s trade deadline, but a highly touted prospect did: RJ Schreck, who was drafted by the Seattle Mariners last year, was traded to the Toronto Blue Jays in exchange for veteran infielder Justin Turner. Schreck, who played college ball at Vanderbilt and Duke, was selected 277th overall in 2023 and had been the No. 29-ranked prospect in Seattle’s farm system.
SECOND IS THE BEST. Jewish golfer Max Greyserman came *this close* to his first-ever PGA Tour victory this week, losing by one stroke. Greyserman, who has supported educational initiatives in Israel, ultimately won second place, the best finish of his career. So how did he keep his cool during the stressful final rounds of the 3M Open? By playing ping-pong, of course.
A DIFFERENT KIND OF FIELD TRIP. A group of 20 student athletes from the University of Southern California traveled to Auschwitz last month as part of a program of the USC’s Shoah Foundation that brings athletes to Washington, D.C. and Poland to learn about antisemitism and the Holocaust. They also met with U.S. antisemitism envoy Deborah Lipstadt. Jewish Insider has more on the trip.
Jews in sports to watch this weekend (all times ET)
⚾ IN BASEBALL…
Kevin Pillar and the Los Angeles Angels host Harrison Bader and the New York Mets in a three-game series this weekend, while Rowdy Tellez and the Pittsburgh Pirates host Joc Pederson and the Arizona Diamondbacks. Alex Bregman and the Houston Astros host the Tampa Bay Rays.
⚽ IN SOCCER…
Tai Baribo and the Philadelphia Union host Liga MX’s Cruz Azul in the Leagues Cup tournament Sunday at 8 p.m. DeAndre Yedlin and Cincinnati F.C. host New York City F.C. Monday at 8 p.m., while Zac MacMath and Real Salt Lake face the Houston Dynamo Monday at 9 p.m.
Your turn
It’s been quite the week for Jewish and Israeli Olympians — from Jessica Fox’s two gold medals to Israel’s first three wins in Paris. As of now, more than half of Israel’s 15 Olympic medals have come in judo.
So we ask you, dear reader: What is your favorite Jewish or Israeli Olympic moment? Is it Fox’s canoe excellence? An oldie, like Aly Raisman’s “Hava Nagila” routine, or an older oldie, like Mark Spitz’s world record or Holocaust survivor Agnes Keleti’s late-career dominance? Reply to this email — or reach out to [email protected] — and let us know your favorite!
A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.
Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and the protests on college campuses.
Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
