Yuval Shalom Freilich (יובל פרייליך; born 24 January 1995) is an Israeli left-handed

épée The ( or , ), sometimes spelled epee in English, is the largest and heaviest of the three weapons used in the sport of fencing. The modern derives from the 19th-century , a weapon which itself derives from the French small sword. This contains ...

fencer.

Biography

Yuval Freilich was born in Israel, and grew up in a religiously observant Jewish home in

Gush Etzion Gush Etzion ( he, גּוּשׁ עֶצְיוֹן, ' Etzion Bloc) is a cluster of Israeli settlements located in the Judaean Mountains, directly south of Jerusalem and Bethlehem in the West Bank. The core group includes four Jewish agricultural v ...

in the settlement of

Neve Daniel Neve Daniel ( he, נְוֵה דָּנִיֵּאל) is an Israeli settlement in the West Bank. Located in western Gush Etzion south of Jerusalem and just west of Bethlehem, it sits atop one of the highest points in the area - close to 1,000 meter ...

, and in

Havatzelet HaSharon Havatzelet HaSharon ( he, חֲבַצֶּלֶת הַשָּׁרוֹן) is a moshav in central Israel. Located on the Mediterranean coast in the Sharon plain just north of Netanya, it falls under the jurisdiction of Hefer Valley Regional Council. In ...

."In first, Israeli wins European fencing championship; 24-year-old Yuval Freilich takes the gold in Dusseldorf contest; ‘it’s the most incredible feeling,’ he says,"
''The Times of Israel'', 18 June 2019.Uri Talshir (14 March 2014)
"Making a point: Israel’s finest fencer - on Sabbath, too; Yuval Freilich had to learn not only to perfect his moves but to compete on the Sabbath,"
''Haaretz''. His parents Gabby (a radiologist) and Rachel Freilich had emigrated to Israel from

Sydney, Australia Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and List of cities in Oceania by population, Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metro ...

, and he has five siblings."Former Moriah student wins European fencing championship,"
''Australian Jewish News'', 19 June 2019. He is the nephew of former Organisation of Rabbis of Australasia president Rabbi Dovid Freilich. In 2000, when Freilich was a child, his family moved to Australia, where he lived for five years and attended

Moriah College The Moriah War Memorial College (or more commonly, Moriah College) is an independent Modern Orthodox Jewish co-educational early learning, primary and secondary day school, located in Queens Park, an eastern suburb of Sydney, New South Wal ...

primary school, but then returned to Israel in 2004. He served as a soldier in 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 ...

, and trained at

Wingate Institute Wingate Institute ( he, מכון וינגייט), officially Orde Wingate Institute for Physical Education and Sports ( he, המכון לחינוך גופני ולספורט ע"ש אורד וינגייט), is a sports training institute located so ...

. He later attended

Open University of Israel The Open University of Israel ( he, האוניברסיטה הפתוחה, ''Ha-Universita ha-Ptuha'') is a distance-education university in Israel. It is one of ten public universities in Israel recognized by the Council of Higher Education (CH ...

Netanya, Israel Netanya (also known as Natanya, he, נְתַנְיָה) is a city in the Northern Central District of Israel, and is the capital of the surrounding Sharon plain. It is north of Tel Aviv, and south of Haifa, between Poleg stream and Wingate I ...

, and

IDC Herzliya Reichman University ( he, אוניברסיטת רייכמן) is Israel's only private university, located in Herzliya, Tel Aviv District. It was founded in 1994 as the IDC Herzliya private college, before being rebranded in 2021. It receives no ...

, where he double majored in Law and Government.

Fencing career

Trevejo v Freilich Fencing WCH EMS-IN t084538

Freilich began fencing at the age of five. His coach is Ohad Balva, and his club is

Hapoel Hapoel ( he, הפועל, lit. ''the worker'') is an Israeli Jewish sports association established in 1926 by the Histadrut Labor Federation. History During the Mandate for Palestine, British Mandate of Palestine period Hapoel had a bitter rivalry ...

Kfar-Saba">"Freilich Makes History For Israel With First European Fencing Crown,"
Eurofencing, 18 June 2019. In 2011 he won the European Cadet Championship. In 2012 at 17 years of age Freilich won the men's épée World Cadet and Junior Fencing Championship in Moscow, and became the #1-ranked épée cadet in the world. In March 2014 Freilich won the European Men's Épée Junior Championships.
the-sports.org. In April 2014 Freilich came in 6th at the World Men's Épée Junior Championships. In March 2015 Freilich again won the European Men's Épée Junior Championships. In 2015 he was the #1 ranked junior épée fencer in the world. In February 2016 he won a Men's Épée bronze medal at the Peter Bakonyi World Cup in

Vancouver, Canada Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the city, up from 631,486 in 2016. The ...

. On June 18, 2019, Freilich won Israel's first European fencing title in the men's individual épée tournament at the

2019 European Fencing Championships The 2019 European Fencing Championships was held in Düsseldorf, Germany from 17 to 22 June 2019 at the Messe Düsseldorf The Messe Düsseldorf is a trade fair ground and organizer, based in Düsseldorf, Germany. With a workforce of 1,459 em ...

Düsseldorf Düsseldorf ( , , ; often in English sources; Low Franconian and Ripuarian: ''Düsseldörp'' ; archaic nl, Dusseldorp ) is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in th ...

, Germany. Israel's first European medal had been won by

Noam Mills Noam Mills ( he, נעם מילס; born May 27, 1986) is an Israeli fencer, who competed in the individual women's épée event for Israel at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. She is a three-time junior Israeli champion in épée, and a four-t ...

, who won a women's individual épée bronze medal in

Leipzig Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as wel ...

, Germany, in 2010. On June 22, 2022, he won the épée team

silver medal A silver medal in sports and other similar areas involving competition is a medal made of, or plated with, silver awarded to the second-place finisher, or runner-up, of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc ...

with Israel at the

2022 European Fencing Championships The 2022 European Fencing Championships was a fencing competition that took place from 17 to 22 June 2022 in Antalya, Turkey. Schedule Medal summary Men's events Women's events Medal table Results Men Foil individual Épée individua ...

Antalya Antalya () is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, fifth-most populous city in Turkey as well as the capital of Antalya Province. Located on Anatolia's southwest coast bordered by the Taurus Mountains, Antalya is the largest Turkish cit ...

, Turkey.

Medal record

European Championship

World Cup

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Freilich, Yuval Israeli male épée fencers Living people 1995 births Jewish male épée fencers Israeli people of Australian-Jewish descent Moshavniks Wingate Institute alumni Open University of Israel alumni Reichman University alumni Israeli settlers