(IsraelNN.com) Shachar Tzuberi, a 22-year-old soldier from Eilat, has won Israel's seventh medal in Olympic history - a bronze in windsurfing.

Tzuberi began the race, which took place off the Qingdao beach at the Beijing 2008 Olympics, in fourth place in the overall competition.  To win a medal, he knew he had to finish the last race at least four places ahead of the three competitors in front of him.  In the event, he finished second in this morning's race, overcoming a false start; he returned to the starting line when he thought - mistakenly - that his start had been disqualified.  He managed to make up for his delay, passing the first float in third place, and ultimately reaching second place.

His second-place finish gave him an overall third-place finish in the windsurfing competition, and thus a bronze medal.

Tzuberi's medal is the seventh in Israeli Olympic history - one gold, one silver, and five bronze - and the only one Israel is expected to win this year.  Windsurfer Gal Friedman, from Pardes Hanna, won Israel's only gold medal ever in the Athens Olympics in 2004.

In 1992, in Barcelona, Yael Arad was the first to bring Israel an Olympic medal; she and Oren Smadja - a relative of Ze'evi - won silver and bronze medals, respectively, in the Judo competition. 

In 1996, Gal Friedman won a bronze medal for windsurfing in Atlanta, and in 2000, Michael Kolganov won a bronze medal for kayaking.  In 2004, Arik Ze'evi from Bnei Brak won a bronze medal in Judo.