Israel’s rhythmic gymnastics team wins silver, Israel’s 7th medal in Paris

( JTA ) — Israel’s rhythmic gymnastics team won the silver medal in the all-around team competition Saturday, earning Israel’s seventh medal at the Paris Olympics.

The group, which is captained by Romi Paritzki and also includes Ofir Shaham, Diana Svertsov, Adar Friedmann and Shani Bakanov, finished with a combined score of 68.850, behind gold medal-winning China’s 69.800. Italy won the bronze.

The medal is Israel’s seventh at the Paris Games — its most ever at a single Olympics — and its fifth silver. Israel had reached the rhythmic team finals in 2008, 2016 and 2020, but Saturday’s win was Israel’s first-ever medal in the team competition. Daria Atamanov finished fifth on Friday in the women’s rhythmic individual all-around contest.

Israel now has 20 Olympic medals and four in gymnastics. Linoy Ashram won gold in the women’s rhythmic individual all-around contest in Tokyo, and artistic gymnast Artem Dolgopyat won silver last week in the men’s floor exercise to follow up on his gold medal performance at the 2020 Games.

The rhythmic team entered Paris with high expectations. The group won its first-ever gold medals at the 2023 Rhythmic Gymnastics World Championships , and had also won gold at the 2022 Rhythmic Gymnastics European Championships, hosted in Tel Aviv.

“This is a moment that can’t be described,” Friedmann said after the win, according to Haaretz . “This is the greatest thing that’s ever happened in our lives. We waited for this moment for so long and I am so happy that we succeeded in achieving it together.”

Gilad Lustig, the secretary general of Israel’s Olympic committee, drew a connection between Israel winning its seventh medal and the symbolism of Oct. 7, the date of Hamas’ surprise attack that killed over 1,200 Israelis and launched the ongoing Israel-Hamas war.

“It’s the most important closing of the circle, after what they tried to do to us on Oct. 7,” Lustig told Haaretz. “We are here, on the map.

“This is our victory over what happened on Oct. 7,” Lustig continued. “From the bottom of our hearts, from every team of ours, from all the people that accompanied this. The feeling of our mission is much greater, and we can seal it with the story of the seven medals. There is nothing more symbolic than that.”