Shay-Oren Smadja ( he, אורן סמדג'ה; born June 20, 1970) is a former

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

judoka is an unarmed modern Japanese martial art, Olympic sport (since 1964), and the most prominent form of jacket wrestling competed internationally.『日本大百科全書』電子版【柔道】(CD-ROM version of Encyclopedia Nipponica, "Judo"). ...

and a judo coach. Smadja won the

Olympic Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece b ...

bronze medal A bronze medal in sports and other similar areas involving competition is a medal made of bronze awarded to the third-place finisher of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc. The outright winner receive ...

judo at the 1992 Summer Olympics The Judo competition at the 1992 Summer Olympics was contested in fourteen weight classes, seven each for men and women. The seven men's weight classes continued to be those first used in 1980. This was the first Olympic competition to award meda ...

, making him the first Israeli man to win an Olympic medal, and the second Israeli overall after

Yael Arad Yael Arad ( he, יעל ארד; born May 1, 1967) is an Israeli judoka. She was the first Israeli to win an Olympic Games, Olympic medal. She is widely recognized as one of Israel's most successful athletes and is credited with bringing judo into ...

won silver in judo the day before.

Career

Smadja was born in

Ofakim Ofakim ( he, אֳפָקִים ''ʾŎfāqīm'', or אוֹפָקִים ''ʾŌfāqīm'', ''lit.'' "horizons") is a city in the Southern District of Israel, 20 kilometers (12.4 mi) west of Beersheba. It achieved municipal status in 1955. I ...

, to a family of

Sephardic Jewish Sephardic (or Sephardi) Jews (, ; lad, Djudíos Sefardíes), also ''Sepharadim'' , Modern Hebrew: ''Sfaradim'', Tiberian: Səp̄āraddîm, also , ''Ye'hude Sepharad'', lit. "The Jews of Spain", es, Judíos sefardíes (or ), pt, Judeus sefar ...

( Tunisian-Jewish) descent. He won the

the ''under 71'' category. In 1995, he won a silver medal at the

1995 World Judo Championships The 1995 World Judo Championships were the 19th edition of the World Judo Championships, and were held in Chiba, Japan in 1995. Medal overview Men Women Medal table Results overview Men 60 kg 65 kg 71 kg 78 kg 86 kg 95 kg + ...

. The next year, he could not repeat his Olympic success at the

1996 Summer Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

. He was nominated the national coach of the Israeli men's judo team in 2010. He coaches Israeli judokas

Or Sasson Or "Ori" Sasson ( he, אור "אורי" ששון; born 18 August 1990) is a retired Israeli Olympic judoka. He won a bronze medal in the +100 kg category at the 2016 Summer Olympics and another one at the 2020 Summer Olympics. He is the se ...

, winner of the bronze medal in the 2016 summer olympics (men 100kg+), and

Sagi Muki Sagi Aharon Muki (or Moki; he, שגיא אהרון מוקי; born 17 May 1992) is an Israeli half-middleweight judoka. Muki is the 2019 World Champion. He also won the 2015 and 2018 European championships. In August 2011 Muki won the European ...

, who won the gold medal at the

2015 European Games The 2015 European Games, also known as Baku 2015 or Baku 2015 European Games ( az, Bakı 2015 Avropa Oyunları), were the inaugural edition of the European Games, an international multi-sport event for athletes representing the National Olympic ...

in judo in the under 73 category and the gold medal at the

2019 World Judo Championships The 2019 World Judo Championships were held in Tokyo, Japan from 25 August to 1 September 2019. Schedule ''All times are local (Japan Standard Time, UTC+9).'' Medal summary Medal table Men's events Women's events Mixed events Prize m ...

in Tokyo in the under 81 category. Smadja is the first Israeli to win an Olympic medal both as an athlete and as a coach.

Achievements

References

External links

* * * * * 1970 births Living people Israeli male judoka Judoka trainers Olympic judoka of Israel Olympic medalists in judo Olympic bronze medalists for Israel Judoka at the 1992 Summer Olympics Judoka at the 1996 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1992 Summer Olympics Israeli Mizrahi Jews Israeli people of Tunisian-Jewish descent People from Ofakim People from Central District (Israel) Israeli Sephardi Jews {{Israel-Olympic-medalist-stub

Career

Achievements

See also

References

External links