Israel's rhythmic gymnastics team on Saturday won silver at the Paris Olympics, taking home Israel's seventh medal this year. Israel's previous record was four medals, which it won during the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.
The team is comprised of Ofir Shaham (19), Diana Svertsov (19), Hadar Friedman (18), Romi Paritzki (20) and Shani Bakanov (18), and was coached by Ayelet Zussman.
Israel performed last in each of the exercises. In the hoops exercise, Israel scored 35.600 points, finishing in the fifth place. In the mixed exercise, the Israeli team needed to score more than 32.200. The team scored a total of 33.250 points, a full 1.350 points higher than it did during the qualifiers. This score brought them to second place and helped win them the silver medal.
The Israeli team scored a total of 68.850, coming in behind China (69.800) and ahead of Italy (68.100).
Following the performance, Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz praised the team, writing, "A huge honor to our rhythmic gymnastics team for bringing Israel its 7th medal - you’ve given the entire country a magical moment of inspiration!"
"We’re proud of you."
Israeli President Isaac Herzog praised, "The five amazing ones - Diana, Ofir, Romi, Shani, and Hadar - you are an enormous source of pride! With hard work, dedication and professionalism, you have made history in the field today, and made an entire country happy."