Pascale Noa Bercovitch ( he, פסקל ברקוביץ'; born August 21, 1967) is a Franco-Israeli writer,

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 ...

film director A film director controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfilment of that vision. The director has a key role in choosing the cast members, p ...

and

paralympic The Paralympic Games or Paralympics, also known as the ''Games of the Paralympiad'', is a periodic series of international multisport events involving athletes with a range of physical disabilities, including impaired muscle power and impaire ...

athlete.

Early life

Bercovitch was born in France to Jewish father and non-Jewish mother. In her youth, she was a track and field champion of

Picardy Picardy (; Picard and french: Picardie, , ) is a historical territory and a former administrative region of France. Since 1 January 2016, it has been part of the new region of Hauts-de-France. It is located in the northern part of France. Hi ...

. On 13 December 1984, aged 17, she slipped while in a train station in Angers and got pulled under an incoming train, causing the amputation of both of her legs above the knee. She was preparing at the time to immigrate to Israel, fulfilling her plans shortly later and volunteering to serve with the

Israel Defense Forces The Israel Defense Forces (IDF; he, צְבָא הַהֲגָנָה לְיִשְׂרָאֵל , ), alternatively referred to by the Hebrew-language acronym (), is the national military of the Israel, State of Israel. It consists of three servic ...

. Following her military service she began practicing disabled sports, attempting to achieve the criteria for the

1992 Summer Paralympics )( es, Deporte Sin Límites) , nations = 82 (BCN)75 (MAD) , athletes = 3,020 (BCN)1,600 (MAD) , opened_by = Queen Sofía , opening = 3 September (BCN)15 September (MAD) , closing = 14 September (BCN)22 September (MAD) , even ...

Journalism and film

In the early 1990s, Bercovitch began working in different fields of communications, becoming a journalist, writer and a film director, while still practicing sports and delivering her first daughter. As a journalist, Bercovitch dealt with disabled people, serving as a journalist on the subject in a morning television show and directing three documentaries, one of which on the Israeli delegation to the

2000 Summer Paralympics The 2000 Summer Paralympic Games or the XI Summer Paralympics were held in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, between 18 and 29 October. The Sydney Paralympics was last time that the Summer Paralympics which were organized by two different ...

. Throughout these years she was training herself in abseiling,

mountain climbing Mountaineering or alpinism, is a set of outdoor activities that involves ascending tall mountains. Mountaineering-related activities include traditional outdoor climbing, skiing, and traversing via ferratas. Indoor climbing, sport climbing, a ...

and

wheelchair dancing Wheelchair DanceSport is a dance competition, individual, partner, team and Dancesport where at least one of the dancers is in a wheelchair. Sport Wheelchair couple dances are for two wheelchair users or for one wheelchair user with a "standi ...

. In 2008, Bercovitch directed a documentary titled ''Three Hundredths of a Second''.

Paralympic sports career

Bercovitch was asked in 2007 to join the Israeli

paralympic rowing Pararowing (or adaptive rowing) is a category of rowing race for those with physical, visual or intellectual disabilities. History In 1913, rowing for individuals with disabilities was initiated by headmaster George Clifford Brown at Worcester ...

team. While never practicing this sport, she had been given ten months to be included in the final list of participants to the

2008 Summer Paralympics The 2008 Summer Paralympic Games (), the 13th Summer Paralympic Games, took place in Beijing, China from September 6 to 17, 2008. As with the 2008 Summer Olympics, equestrian events were held in Hong Kong and sailing events in Qingdao. It was ...

. Her silver medal won at the 2008 World Rowing Cup competitions in Germany enabled her to do so. She was a rower at the 2008 Paralympics, where she competed in the women's single sculls event but did not advance to the finals. She competed in

para-cycling Para-cycling (or Paracycling) is the sport of cycling (sport), cycling adapted for cyclists who have various disability, disabilities. It is governed by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI). The sport consists of seven different events which in ...

at the

2012 Summer Paralympics The 2012 Summer Paralympics, branded as the London 2012 Paralympic Games, were an international multi-sport parasports event held from 29 August to 9 September 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. They were the 14th Summer Paralympic Gam ...

, placing sixth in handcycling at the women's H4 events in road time trial (16 km) and road race (48 km). Bercovitch then switched to paracanoe, competing in the women's

kayak A kayak is a small, narrow watercraft which is typically propelled by means of a double-bladed paddle. The word kayak originates from the Greenlandic word ''qajaq'' (). The traditional kayak has a covered deck and one or more cockpits, each se ...

single KL2 200 m events at the 2015 World Championships, the

2016 Summer Paralympics ) , nations = 159 , athletes = 4,342 , opening = 7 September , closing = 18 September , opened_by = President Michel Temer , cauldron = Clodoaldo Silva , events = 528 in 22 sports , stadium = Maracanã , sum ...

, and the 2017 World Championships.

Published works

* Oline, le dauphin du miracle ''(The dolphin's boy)''. Paris, 1999.

Film productions

References

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External links

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Close B Final racing at the Paralympic Rowing Regatta
– WorldRowing.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Bercovitch, Pascale 1967 births Living people French emigrants to Israel French female rowers Israeli female rowers Israeli female cyclists Israeli female canoeists Israeli film directors Israeli people of French descent Israeli amputees Paralympic rowers for Israel Paralympic cyclists for Israel Paralympic canoeists for Israel Rowers at the 2008 Summer Paralympics Cyclists at the 2012 Summer Paralympics Canoeists at the 2016 Summer Paralympics French amputees Film directors with disabilities French writers with disabilities