China Beijing Olympics - Israel's Shahar Tzuberi in top spot

China Olympics - Israel's Shahar Tzuberi in top spot after 1st round windsurfing race

By Haaretz Service

Israel windsurfer Shahar Tzuberi is sitting in first place after his victory in the first men's windsurfing race at the Beijing China Olympics on Monday. The second race is scheduled to take place later on Monday. Making his first ever appearance at the Games, Tzuberi holds a lead over Chinese competitor Aichen Wang.

The road to an Israel medal in China is a long one given that first race won by Tzuberi is one of 20 in total. Ma'ayan Davidovich is also scheduled to race her second round in the women's windsurfing competition. She finished 13th out of a total of 27 competitors in the first round. Her compatriots, Udi Gal and Gideon Kliger also finished 13th in the first round of their sailing contest on Monday, a disappointing result for two men considered to be Israel's premier sailing stars.

In women's China Olympic sailing action, Vered Buskila and Nika Kornitzky finished their first round race in 9th place. The two are hoping not to repeat their performance from the prior Olympic games, when they failed to pose a threat to the top finishers.

Nimrod Shapira Bar-Or, who made history Sunday after advancing to the semifinals of the 200-meter freestyle swimming competition, failed to repeat a similar feat Monday, posting a 1:48.16 finish, good for 15th place overall. In the 100-meter backstroke finals, Guy Barnea finished in last place after posting a time of 54.93 seconds.

Israel shooter Doron Egozi finished in 41st place out of a total of 51 shooters in the 10-meter competition. Egozi, the youngest of the three shooters representing Israel in Beijing, ended the day with 587 out of a possible 600 points. Finland's Henry Hakkinen captured the gold medal, posting 598 points

Israel, Iran and the hot volleyball girls

Israel, Iran and the Hot volleyball girls

By Uzi Dann Haaretz

BEIJING - David Blatt is a great basketball coach, but if he ever has problems finding a job he can always start a new career in public relations. In the past 24 hours the U.S.-born Israel, who is in Beijing coaching the Russian basketball team, visited the Israel delegation in the Olympic Village twice, including a meeting and photo-op with Israel President Shimon Peres. Blatt yesterday gave a great show against the Iranians when he shook hands with every member of their team and declared that the Olympics are above politics. "Only in the Olympics can an Israel coach shake the hand of an Iranian player," he said. But please, Blatt may be an Israel citizen but he is the coach of the Russian team. If he were the coach of the Israel team, no Iranians would have shaken his hand or had their photo taken with him - the Iranians would not have even turned up for the game. Similarly, an Iran swimmer will not show up for his qualifying round because Israel swimmer Tom Be'eri will be competing, so let's not mix sports and politics. As far as the Iranians are concerned, Israelis are part of an evil entity, unless of course they also have American passports and happen to coach a Russian team. More a circus than a sport You can't write anything politically correct about this branch of sport. I mean, you can but then you would have to distort the truth. In recent years it has turned into one of the most popular sports in existence. Although it all began in Santa Monica before the First World War, the discipline remained unknown until the 1980s when it was exported to Brazil and, beginning in 1996, became an Olympic sport drawing lots of attention. The idea is simple: Combine sport with a ball and set it all at the beach. But beach soccer, albeit a very popular game, is nowhere near becoming an Olympic sport, as is true of beach volleyball. Let's face it - the most exciting thing about it is the view: Beach volleyball is probably the only sport where the women's games are more interesting than those of the men. The Chinese have been flocking to watch the matches and seem to genuinely take an interest in them. Most of the Westerners, however, seem to show up with their buddies to stare at the slender girls in bikinis playing volleyball. Of course, the game itself is exciting, but the competition is not the point. Lots of music is played (cheesy Western pop from the '80s), Chinese cheerleaders put on a show during halftime and when the frequent timeouts are called. Photographers have a hard time working tirelessly to snap photos of the scantily-clothed women. When the men's competition begins, however, many of them just leave or take a nap. A photograph of some Italian stallion is nice but it's not why their editors sent them there. All the female players, whether they are from Austria, Greece, Brazil or Mexico, seem to have been manufactured at the same factory and differ only in skin tone and hair color. Fashion is also an integral part of the game: Sunglasses are essential at all times, even if it's cloudy. The stadium is an interesting venue in itself: The 12,200-seater is built around a sandbox where the games are held. Beijing, of course, is nowhere near the sea, but that's no problem. The sand, an NBS commentator who is herself a former volleyball player says, was imported from Hainan Island, the southernmost part of China."The Chinese needed time to warm up to the concept," she said. "It seemed like a strange sport to them." Meanwhile, the Brazilian male and female teams dominated the games but truth be told, if the competitors wore full-body swimsuits, I'm not sure people would rush to see the competition, which still seems more like a circus act than a real sport.

Hatikva is Played at the Beijing China Olympics

Israel Swimmer stays in Beijing Olympics to compete 'for dad'

By JPOST.COM STAFF

Alon Mandel wept quietly as the Israeli flag was raised and "Hatikva" played at the Olympic Village on Thursday afternoon.

The Israel Olympic swimmer couldn't stop the tears at the flag-raising ceremony. His greatest supporter, his father, was not around to share the realization of his lifelong dream.

Mandel was awakened at 4 a.m. on Thursday to be told that his father, Kostya, 51, had died after falling off a ladder in the garden of his Netanya, Israel home.

Mandel's mother, Rina, initially asked the chiefs of the Olympic Committee of Israel not to wake her son, but two hours later she decided to notify him by phone, concerned that he might find out the terrible news from another source.

The 20-year-old Israel vowed to remain at the China Olympic Games on Thursday. "I intend to compete for my father," he said. "I will help and support my family as soon as I return. My sister is coming to China and that will help me compete."

Back home, mother Rina was adamant that Kostya would have insisted that Alon swim as scheduled. "You absolutely have to stay," she told him by telephone, adding after the call, "And he better put in the performance of his life."

His sister Maya arrived in China on Thursday afternoon and the two met at a Beijing hotel where Maya will be staying.

Mandel, who will race the 200 meters butterfly on Monday, spoke of hearing the sad news: "Initially I thought that I was being awakened for a surprise drug test. I couldn't imagine any other reason to wake me.

"My mother told me of the accident and it was a severe shock," he said. "I went for a walk outside with the two of the national coaches and took a sleeping pill. I managed to sleep another three hours, but the sleep didn't take away the pain I am dealing with now."

The news quickly spread through the Israel delegation and the China Olympics took backstage for a few hours.

The OCI decided, however, that there would be no changes made to the delegation's schedule for Thursday, and by the afternoon the athletes were back into the rhythm of things.

OCI General Secretary Efraim Zinger said that the entire delegation's preparations for the Games would continue as usual, but Israel Swimming Association chairman Noam Tzvi admitted that it wouldn't be easy for the athletes.

"The swimmers are a very tight-knit group and have trained together intensively over the last two years," Zinger said. "In the last month they were together all the time and they are very attached to each other.

"Half of the team will already begin to compete on Saturday. We will do our very best to make sure they are focused for the competition, but obviously it's a very difficult situation."

Mandel, who trains year round at the University of Michigan, only qualified for the Olympics after a long saga in which his father played an important supportive role.

The butterfly specialist thought he had missed out on the China Olympic Games after finishing the 200m. butterfly race at March's European Championships in 13th position, one spot below the required 12th place.

His Israel record time was just two-hundredths of a second slower than what was needed to meet the criteria, but a month ago it was confirmed that European gold medalist Ioannis Drymonakos had been punished for testing positive in a drug test and Mandel was added to the delegation.

"My mother and father were ideal parents and I'm only here thanks to them," Mandel said. "I would very much like to return home, but my heart tells me to stay."

Facebook, Blogs, Web 2.0 Kick In As Israel Enters Beijing China Olympics

Facebook, Blogs, Web 2.0 Kick In As Israel Enters Beijing China Olympics

By Herb Brandon
Israel News Agency
http://www.israelnewsagency.com/beijingchinaolympicsisraelteamjewishgamesinternetfacebookwebblogsshimonperesnews48080708.html

Jerusalem ---- August 8, 2008 ....... With only 24 hours remaining to the opening ceremonies of the Beijing China 2008 Summer Olympics Games, Web 2.0 is coming alive with Facebook rooms and several blogs being created to support the Israel team.

"We searched the Internet and found very few sites which were dedicated to interacting and supporting Israel's participation in the Beijing China Olympic Games," said Israel News Agency, and United States News Agency publisher Joel Leyden.

"The INA opened an "I Support Israel in the China Olympics" room on Facebook which immediately gathered dozens of members and created blogs at Blogger to provide comprehensive real time news and video coverage of the Olympic sporting events in China."

The Israel Olympic team secured its 43rd member yesterday after the Israel Olympic Committee tribunal announced that they would include swimmer Nimrod Shapira Bar-Or.

As the Summer Olympics in Beijing, China are now only hours away, Israel athletes have begun leaving for China on a 11-hour trek between the duty free stores of Ben-Gurion Airport and the red welcoming flags of Beijing. Twenty members of the Israel delegation will head out tomorrow night, including medalist judoka Arik Zeevi and sailor Nofar Edelman.

But as Israel members depart Tel Aviv, suspense about the Olympic games is already taking place, and it's not about support for Tibet. The Israel tennis team of Andy Ram and Yoni Ehrlich has been stranded in Hong Kong since early yesterday morning as a typhoon kept all airlines grounded.

When their plane landed in Hong Kong for a short layover, passengers were informed that a typhoon was in the area, and that all flights would be temporarily kept from taking off.

The pair is due to begin play on Sunday.

"There was a typhoon here," he told the sports Web site ONE. "All of the outgoing flights were canceled, including ours. We haven't slept in two days. Please respect our wishes - we're tired and are asking the media to be discreet," he said.

Ehrlich also urged fans to remain calm.

"Everything is okay," he said. "There is time until the start of play."

Ephraim Singer, head of the Israel Olympic Committee, also tried to sound a comforting note. "Nobody is panicking," said Singer. "Everything's alright, and we are up to date with everything that's going on."

And it appears it will not only be typhoon that may cause a disturbance.

Transcending the heavy pollution in Beijing, China, are expected high temperatures and soaring humidity levels.

Many of the athletes competing outdoors are expected to suffer dehydration.

But with the weather conditions not too distant to that of a hot Israel summer, the overwhelming heat may prove to be an advantage for the Israel team.

One special "delegate" arrived from Israel into Beijing well before the China typhoon had become even a single, innocent cloud.

Israel President Shimon Peres arrived yesterday and greeted the opening of the Beijing Olympic China Games with a poem reinforcing the China theme of "the same dream, of glory, of harmony, of peace."

The poem read: "Birds of all feathers come and sing together, A hymn of hope in an Olympic nest. Forget your borders, ignore your cages and fly free. Reject your different nightmares and have one dream. The same dream, of glory, of harmony, of peace. An equal dream for poor and rich, black and white. An equal right to compete and champion. Run and throw, shoot and swim and pin, row and hit. You can be the best on our globe. Win, don't kill; lose, don't hate; Hope, don't regret. Go home with an olive branch in your lips: together in harmony. Breathing fresh air and singing for the newly born in the cradles and the nests."

Shimon Peres is scheduled to provide a Web 2.0 Internet interview as he meets with the China president.

Peres will visit the home of Israel Ambassador to China Amos Nadai, and will talk to Chinese business leaders about trade before returning to his hotel, which is close to the National Stadium so he can walk to the opening ceremony on Friday night without desecrating Shabbat.

Peres will meet Dr. Charles Zhang on Friday morning, the founder and CEO of Sohu.com, one of China's largest Internet companies and an official sponsor of the Beijing Games. Zhang will interview Peres, asking questions in English while a simultaneous Chinese translation takes place.

The interview will then be broadcast on Sohu.com, which is the Internet host of the official Beijing Olympic Web site, Beijing2008.com.

"Normally heads of state only do television and newspaper interviews, but on my list, the Sohu.com appearance was the most important item," said Guy Kivetz, press officer for the Israel Embassy in Beijing, China.

The Israel News Agency is planning to coordinate global Web coverage of the Peres interview with Sohu.com. The opening ceremony will be held Friday in Beijing's "Bird Nest" national stadium. The Olympic games in China are scheduled to start at 8:08 p.m. local time (1208 UTC). The opening event will be broadcast to an estimated one billion television viewers around the world.

"Hopefully Peres will find a few minutes to join the Facebook room "I Support the Israel Team At The China Beijing Olympics" for an online chat with those watching from Tel Aviv, Haifa and Jerusalem and with Jews from around the world who are displaying their online, digital support for the Israel team," said Leyden.

The above news content was edited and SEO optimized in Israel for the Internet by the Leyden Communications Group.

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Welcome to Israel In China for the Beijing Olympics

Israel Announces Beijing China Olympics Flag Bearer

JERUSALEM -----July 9 ........ Michael Kolganov will be the Israel flag bearer at the 2008 Beijing China Olympics opening ceremony, announced the Olympic Committee of Israel .

The 33-year-old athlete, who made aliya from Tashkent, Uzbekistan, in 1995, will be competing in his third Olympics and is one of only five Israeli athletes to win an Olympic medal, after having claiming the bronze medal of the men's 500 meters K1 at the 2000 Sydney Olympics.

"I'm very excited," Kolganov said. "It's a massive honor for me to lead out the delegation at the opening ceremony. I hope to fill the hearts of all the citizens of Israel with pride."

In late June, Israel set 38 athletes who will represent Israel at the Beijing Olympics.

Gilad Lustig, director of Israel's Elite Sport Department, a body set up in 1984 to oversee the selection of athletes for the Olympics, said in April that "I hope we claim between one or two medals and reach between six and eight finals."

Israel must claim a medal in the sailing, while the second might come from tennis or gymnastics, Lustig added.

The youngest member of the Israel delegation is Neta Rivkin, age 17.

Neta Rivkin performs with a hoop at the rhythmic gymnastics World Cup 2008 tournament in Kiev in March.
Photo: AP

Rivkin was added to the Israel delegation as one of three youngsters who fell just short of the criteria, but are expected to have a bright future ahead of them.

The gymnast made her breakthrough in 2007, finishing 13th in the European Championships and 20th in the Worlds.

Rivkin has been training for the China Olympics eight hours a day, six days a week, but is not expected to finish among the top-10 in the qualifiers and advance to the final.

The Beijing China Games could, however, be an important experience for the Israel teenager ahead of London 2012 and future Olympics.

President Shimon Peres.
Photo: Ariel Jerozolimski

Israel President Shimon Peres, who will be in the China capital as guest of the Chinese Government for the opening of the 2008 Olympics, will be joined by Chabad Rabbi Shimon Freundlich at a reading of the Book of Lamentations on Saturday night.

It was already known that the Chinese, in a desire to enable the president to avoid transgressing the Sabbath, arranged for him to be accommodated in the Olympic Village inside the stadium so that he could easily walk to the opening ceremony on Friday night.

Aside from that, there will be no kashrut problems for the president or any other visitors to Beijing who observe the Jewish dietary laws.

Dini's Kosher Restaurant which is under Freundlich's certification and across the road from the American Embassy has a complete selection of Jewish, Chinese and Western food which it can serve in its large dining area or send vacuum packed to hotels not only in Beijing but anywhere in China.

Shimon Peres is due to leave Israel on a regular commercial flight some time after midnight on Wednesday and to arrive in Beijing, where he will given an official welcoming ceremony, on Thursday afternoon.

Early on Thursday evening, he will tour the Olympic Village and will meet with members of the Israeli Olympic team.

Later in the evening Peres will meet with Chinese business leaders at the residence of Israeli Ambassador Amos Nadai to discuss the further development of joint ventures and bilateral trade and investments.

Peres, who is known to be technologically minded, will begin his working day early on Friday morning with a chat on the popular Chinese web site Sohu.com in which he will answer the questions of Chinese surfers.

After that he will meet with Chinese President Hu Jintao at the Great Hall of the People to discuss a number of issues including the strengthening of relations between their two countries and of course the hazard posed to the world by the Iranian nuclear project.

Following the meeting, Peres will take time out for an interview with Chinese Television's CCTV News for its Top Talk program.

Immediately afterwards, Peres along with other international dignitaries such as US President George W. Bush, French President Nicola Sarkozy and Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin (who holds a black belt in judo) will participate in a State reception at the Great Hall hosted by Hu Jintao.

On Saturday, in deference to the Sabbath, Peres will have a free day until Saturday evening when he will be joined for the Tisha B'Av service by Freundlich, representatives of Jewish communities from around the world, the Israel Ambassador, the heads of Israel's Olympic Committee who will be in Beijing with the official delegation and heads of the Olympic delegation.