Arad, Smadja empty-handed

by HILLEL KUTTLER

ATLANTA (July 24) -IsraelÕs Olympic fortunes plummeted yesterday as 1992 silver and bronze judo medalists Yael Arad and Oren Smadja both failed to ascend to the winnersÕ podium.

On a brighter note, swimmer Eytan Orbach set an Israeli record in the 100 meter backstroke with a 56.74 second finish to lead his heat in yesterdayÕs Olympic preliminaries. He finished far out of the running, however, for a place in last nightÕs finals. Arad failed in her attempt at the bronze medal when she was beaten by Jung Sung Sook of Korea 1-0. She sustained a bruise to the head on a fall when she tried to avoid being pinned when Jung threw her.

Yuko Emoto of Japan, who beat Arad in the third round, was the eventual gold medalist in the 61 kg category, with Gella Vandecaveye of Belgium taking the silver and Jenny Gal of The Netherlands and Jung each receiving bronze.

Yael Arad advanced to the bronze medal bout with victories over RussiaÕs Tatyana Bogomyakova and SpainÕs Yaneisy Alvarez in the repechage (consolation) round. She scored an ippon against Alvarez with 45 seconds remaining after being behind. Arad, suffering from a viral infection, won her first-round match over LiechtensteinÕs Birgit Blum and scored a second-round ippon over KazakhstanÕs Valentina Kamsuleva before falling to Emoto in the third round.

Emoto defeated 1992 gold medalist Catherine Fleury-Vachon of France, who was knocked out of contention with a later loss.

Following her loss, Arad approached her supporters in the stands. ÒYou see all these people? They came from Israel just for me,Ó a tearful Arad told reporters. ÒThey pushed me. I tell you, I donÕt know if I could have done it without them.Ó

She added, ÒIÕm relieved because for me itÕs over. ItÕs my last competition. IÕve been doing judo for 20 years.Ó

Barcelona bronze medalist Oren Smadja was knocked out of the 78 kg. judo competition with a second-round loss to TurkeyÕs Irakli Uznadze after defeating BritainÕs Graeme Randall. Smadja said that after attaining great success in 1992, he was disappointed by his early exit and would cry about it at night but is not despondent.

ÒThis is sports Ð there are winners and losers, and in this instance IÕm the one who lost. I wonÕt get depressed. IÕm an athlete. I have to accept it. ItÕs a disaster, itÕs terrible but ... thatÕs it.

ÒItÕs a sport that disappoints. You work so hard, and boom, someone beats you. ItÕs frustrating. But what can you do? IÕll deal with it.Ó Smadja, who suffered a partial tear in his left knee five days before arriving here, refused cortisone shots since.

He said he did not regret that decision but claimed the injury prevented him from working on UznadzeÕs weak, left side.

ÒI came here with Olympic and World Championship medals. I was strong. I felt good. But it seems like the injury is what did me in. ÒThis is what was decisive. It wasnÕt the Turk that beat me but the injury. IÕd like to think that if I had been healthier, it might have ended differently. But itÕs not an excuse. I wonÕt ever make excuses in life.Ó

Among other Israeli athletes yesterday, Alex Tripolski finished in 16th place in the 50m free pistol shooting with 558 points. RussiaÕs Boris Kokorev took the gold with a 666.4 final after scoring 570 in the preliminaries.

Boxer Vladislav Neiman was to fight last night at 51 kg. against KazakhstanÕs Bulat Dzumadilov. Today, Dan Kutler and Vadim Alexsev take part in the 100m butterfly and 200m breaststroke, respectively; and Gal Friedman is still waiting for the proper weather conditions to show his windsurfing skill.