Udi Gal ( he, אודי גל; born June 11, 1979) is an Israeli Olympic sailor, who is a sailing world championship three-time bronze medalist.

Biography

Gal is Jewish, and was born in

Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( he, תֵּל־אָבִיב-יָפוֹ, translit=Tēl-ʾĀvīv-Yāfō ; ar, تَلّ أَبِيب – يَافَا, translit=Tall ʾAbīb-Yāfā, links=no), often referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the G ...

, Israel. He started sailing at 8 years of age, and started racing at 13 years of age. He competes with the club Hapoel Tel Aviv. He competed with partner

Gideon Kliger Gideon "Gidi" Kliger (born March 30, 1980) is an Israeli Olympic sailor, who is a three-time bronze medallist at the sailing world championships. Biography Kliger was born in Tel Aviv, Israel. He started sailing and competing when he was 8 year ...

in two-man competitions from the outset of his career, through 2009. The first event he won was the Youth Europeans 420, in 1996. In 1998 he and Kliger won the European Youth Championships, and in 2001 they finished second in the European Championship in Ireland. In 2004 he was chosen as chair of the Israel Olympic Committee's athletes section. He and Kliger won

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 ...

s in the Sailing 470 World Championship for three straight years in Men's 470-Class Two-Person Dinghy — in 2006–08. In June 2007, he came in third in the Men's 470 ISAF Sailing World Championships, in

Cascais Cascais () is a town and municipality in the Lisbon District of Portugal, located on the Portuguese Riviera. The municipality has a total of 214,158 inhabitants in an area of 97.40 km2. Cascais is an important tourism in Portugal, tourist de ...

, Portugal. In January 2008, he came in third in the Men 470 World Championships, in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

, Australia. In April 2008, he and Kliger were ranked third in the world in the 470 class dinghy. Gal and Kliger competed on behalf of

Israel at the 2004 Summer Olympics Israel competed at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece, from 13 to 29 August 2004. It was the nation's thirteenth appearance at the Summer Olympics. The Olympic Committee of Israel sent 36 athletes to the Games, 20 men and 16 women, to c ...

in the

Sailing at the 2004 Summer Olympics Sailing (sport), Sailing/Yachting is an Olympic sport that has been part of the Olympic programme starting from the Games of the 1st Olympiad (Sailing at the 1896 Summer Olympics, 1896 Olympics in Athens, Greece). With the exception of 1904 Sum ...

in Athens, Greece, and on behalf of

Israel at the 2008 Summer Olympics Israel competed at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China. This was Israel's fourteenth participation in the Summer Olympics. Israel sent 43 athletes to compete in Beijing, the largest Israeli delegation in Olympic history, with the previous ...

Sailing at the 2008 Summer Olympics Sailing/Yachting is an Olympic sport starting from the Games of the 1st Olympiad ( 1896 Olympics in Athens, Greece). With the exception of 1904 and possibly the cancelled 1916 Summer Olympics, sailing has always been included on the Olympic sc ...

in Beijing, China, in Men's 470-Class Two-Person Dinghy, coming in 15th and 14th, respectively. He coaches Israeli Olympians

Eyal Levin Eyal Levin, sometimes written Eyal Levine ( he, אייל לוין; born August 27, 1986) is an Israeli Olympic sailor. He sails with Dan Froyliche. Early life Levin's hometown, where he grew up, is Haifa, Israel. Sailing career Levin's sailing ...

and

Dan Froyliche Dan Froyliche ( he, דן פרויליך; born November 18, 1992) is an Israeli Olympic sailor. He sails with Eyal Levin. Early life Froyliche was born and lives in Gan Hashomron, Israel, as small coastal town on the Mediterranean Sea between T ...

, who are competing on behalf of

Israel at the 2016 Summer Olympics Israel competed at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 5 to 21 August 2016. It was the nation's sixteenth appearance at the Summer Olympics. The Olympic Committee of Israel confirmed a team of 47 athletes, 22 men and 25 wom ...

, in the 470. Gal moved to the San Francisco/Bay Area to pursue a masters degree in

Sports Psychology Sport psychology was defined by the European Federation of Sport in 1996, as the study of the psychological basis, processes, and effects of sport. Otherwise, sport is considered as any physical activity where the individuals engage for competi ...

from John F. Kennedy University, and began coaching youth sailing at

Peninsula Youth Sailing Foundation A peninsula (; ) is a landform that extends from a mainland and is surrounded by water on most, but not all of its borders. A peninsula is also sometimes defined as a piece of land bordered by water on three of its sides. Peninsulas exist on al ...

(PYSF). In 2021, Gal left PYSF to start his own youth sailing program, High Performance Center (HPC) As a coach at the 2021 i420 world championships, he helped lead team USA to three gold medals.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Gal, Udi 1979 births Living people Israeli sailors Sailors at the 2004 Summer Olympics – 470 Sailors at the 2008 Summer Olympics – 470 Olympic sailors of Israel Israeli male sailors (sport) Jewish Israeli sportspeople Reichman University alumni Sportspeople from Tel Aviv