EL AL | Atmosphere

Magazine I The Paris Paralympic Games

Amir Levi I Photo: Lilach Weiss Rosenberg

Amit Hasdai I Photo: Tom Bartov

that very year. “In our team there are players that are Jewish, Arab, Druze, religious, secular, women and men. Together, we’ve built something special”, says Ben David, who participated in the Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020 Games and is considered one of the best goalball players in the world. Amit Hasdai Discipline: hand cycling Age: 41, married + 3 Achievements: fourth place at the 2023 European Championships Amit Hasdai, member of Beit Halochem Tel Aviv, was critically injured at 19 during his military service. A bullet hit a main artery and the right side of his body was left paralyzed. Before taking on cycling, Hasdai did seven years of horseback riding which he first started as part of a therapy program, but then took on professionally, and started taking part in competitions, even doing quite well at international events. When the horse he was riding grew

old, Hasdai decided to change course, and veered towards hand cycling. “It was tough at first but with a lot of hard work, improvement came”, says Hasdai. The Paris Games are his first Paralympics. Amir Levi Achievements: bronze medalist at the 2023 European Championships (singles and doubles), mixed doubles gold-medalist at the 2018 European Championships, ranked 8 th in the world Amir Levi is an IDF disabled veteran and a member of Beit Halochem Jerusalem. He was injured during his military service and has been using a wheelchair ever since. The Paris Games will be Levi’s first Paralympics, after he missed the Tokyo 2020 Games. “For me, taking part in the Paris Paralympics is a dream come true. So much hard work and sacrifice has gone into making this possible”, he said. ˆ Discipline: badminton Age: 46, married + 3

athlete, Yechiam Sharabi, coach of the Israel taekwondo team, invited him to come and train with him and he hasn’t stopped since then. “At night I imagine myself on the podium” says Yasur. The Paris Games are his first Paralympics. Lihi Ben David Discipline: goalball Age: 30 Achievements: runner-up at the 2023 European Championships and bronze-medalist at the 2022 World Championships Lihi Ben David is a member of the Jerusalem Institute for the Blind, one of the six members of the Israeli female goalball team, and trains at Beit Halochem Tel Aviv. She suffers from macular degeneration, which causes loss of central vision. She started playing goalball at 11 and joined the Israel National Team Lihi Ben David I Photo: Keren Isaacson

The Israel Paralympic Delegation Rowing: Moran Samuel (Women’s single Sculls), Shmuel Daniel (Men’s single Sculls), Salech Shahin and Shahar Milfelder (Double Sculls) Para Canoe: Talia Eilat Goalball: Lihi Ben David, Elham Mahamid, Roni Ochayon, Ori Mizrahi, Gal Hamrani and Noa Malka Shooting: Yulia Chernoy Boccia : Nadav Levi Swimming: Veronika Guirenco, Mark Malyar, Ariel Malyar, Ami Omer Dadon, Iyad Shalabi Wheelchair Tennis: Guy Sasson Sergei Lysov Badminton: Nina Gorodetsky, Amir Levi Cycling: Amit Hasdai Taekwondo: Asaf Yasur, Adnan Milad

26 ATMOSPHERE AUGUST 2024