Israel at the 1968 Summer Paralympics

Israel at the 1968 Summer Paralympics
IPC code	ISR
NPC	Israel Paralympic Committee
Website	www.isad.org.il
in Tel Aviv
Competitors	53
Medals Ranked 3rd	Gold Silver Bronze Total 18 21 23 62
Summer Paralympics appearances
1960 1964 1968 1972 1976 1980 1984 1988 1992 1996 2000 2004 2008 2012 2016

Israel was the host nation of the 1968 Summer Paralympics in Tel Aviv. The Israeli team finished third in the medal table and won sixty-two medals: eighteen gold, twenty-one silver and twenty-three bronze.^[1] Over 750 athletes from 28 nations took part in the Games; the Israeli team included 53 athletes, 37 men and 15 women.^{[2][n 1]}

Disability classifications

The Paralympics groups athletes' disabilities into one of five disability categories; amputation, the condition may be congenital or sustained through injury or illness; cerebral palsy; wheelchair athletes, there is often overlap between this and other categories; visual impairment, including blindness; Les autres, any physical disability that does not fall strictly under one of the other categories, for example dwarfism or multiple sclerosis.^[3][4] Each Paralympic sport then has its own classifications, dependent on the specific physical demands of competition. Events are given a code, made of numbers and letters, describing the type of event and classification of the athletes competing.^[5]

Archery

Four Israeli archers competed at the Games, none won a medal.^[6]

In the St. Nicholas round for paraplegic women Even-Sahav finished seventh with 524 points.^[7] In the equivalent men's event Israeli athletes Feld, Kirschner and Even-Sahav finished twenty-fourth, twenty-third and twelfth respectively^[8]

Athletics

Twenty-seven members of the Israeli team competed in athletics events, winning thirty-two medals, nine gold, eleven silver and twelve bronze.^[6] Zipora Rubin-Rosenbaum won gold medals in the club throw, javelin, shot put and pentathlon and a silver medal in the discus for the host nation.^[6][9] Other athletes that won multiple medals for Israel included; Halfon, who won two gold and two silver medals in women's special class field events; Ora Goldstein who won bronze medals in wheelchair racing and shot put; Mishani who took gold in the 60 metres wheelchair dash and also won four silver medals; and Siri who won two silver and four bronze medals.^[6]

Table tennis

Nineteen table tennis players competed for Israel and won four gold, one silver and three bronze medals. Baruch Hagai won the gold medal in the men's singles C classification and teamed up with Arieh Rubin to also win gold in the doubles C.^[6][10][11]

Wheelchair basketball

Israel entered teams in both the men's and women's wheelchair basketball events and won the gold medal in each.^[6] The women's event took the form of a single pool stage with medals awarded to the top three teams. Israel won all four of their matches scoring 67 points and conceding 17.^[12] The men's event featured a pool stage followed by a knockout competition. Israel beat France and the Netherlands to advance to the quarterfinals. They then beat Canada, France, for a second time, and the United States to take gold.^[13]

See also

• Israel at the 1968 Summer Olympics

Notes

References