Kalganov wins last-gasp bronze
By Viva Sarah Press
(October 2) - Michael Kalganov won a bronze medal yesterday in the 500 meter kayaking event, placing Israel among the 80 medal-winning countries at the 2000 Games.
Kalganov's medal ended a run of disappointments for the national delegation at these Olympics.
"This is a great achievement for [Kalganov] and for the State of Israel," said Gilad Lustig, the delegation's professional manager. "We are very proud. Five times we were so close to a medal, and today we succeeded. [Kalganov] is our No. 1 athlete."
"It was like giving birth," chief of mission Efraim Zinger, told the Israel Olympic Committee's Web site. "At the beginning, there were close calls and pain, and in the end we got an amazing result."
Kalganov opened the K1 500 meter race with a strong start, maintaining a boat length between himself and the other competitors until the last 150m. With the last lengths to go, Norway's Knut Holmann - who trailed in fifth place at the halfway mark - fought his way to the front. He was followed closely by Bulgarian Petar Merkov.
With the gold and silver medalists from Saturday's 1,000m. race in front of him and the rest of the fleet catching up, Kalganov looked to be in trouble. Moreover, Hungary's Akos Vereckei had pulled up and was cruising right beside Kalganov's boat.
But Kalganov kept the nose of his boat in third place, and crossed the finish line half a second ahead of Vereckei, the current world champion.
The race started more than six hours late and was nearly postponed until today after gusty winds made it impossible for the rowers to compete.
The wind eventually let up enough for the events to be held, though conditions were still rough.
Holmann, who also won the 1,000m. gold, pulled in at 1:57.847, Merkov, the 1,000m silver medalist, clocked 1:58.393, and Kalganov timed 1:59.563.
In Saturday's K1 1,000m. race, Kalganov was just edged out of the bronze medal by Briton Tim Brabants.
Kalganov paced himself with the slower competitors for much of the final. Then, with 250m. to go, he lurched himself forward and came tantalizingly close to a prize-winning finish. However, Brabants held on by a thread to win the bronze. Kalganov's time was 3:35.099, 42 hundredths of a second behind Brabants.
Holmann took the gold with a time of 3:33.269, Merkov took silver with 3:34.649, and Brabants secured the bronze in 3:35.057.
Israel's other kayakers - women's duo Lior Carmi and Larissa Pesakhovich and the men's duo Ro'i Yelin and Rami Zur - failed to make it past their respective 500m. semifinals events.
Carmi and Pesakhovich came in fifth in their semifinal heat on Friday with a time of 1:48.120. Only the top three finishers in each semifinal race move on to the final.
Yelin and Zur also failed to advance to the finals when they pulled in eighth in their semifinal heat on Friday. The Israeli duo clocked 1:34.241, more than two seconds behind top qualifiers in their heat, Australians Daniel Collins and Andrew Trim, who clocked 1:31.475. Yelin and Zur were behind from the start of their race, despite their better time than their qualifying heat finish of 1:34.774.
Gymnastics
After finishing in 13th place in the first day of the rhythmic gymnastics qualifying competition on Thursday, Or Tokayev had another tough day of competitions on Friday.
Before the Games, Tokayev's coach Natalya Usmolov told The Jerusalem Post that she did not think Tokayev would get a medal, but hoped "to finish in the Top 10."
Tokayev, had trouble with her ribbon event, and ended up in 14th place. Her score was 38.569. The top score in the qualifying round went to Russia's Alina Kabaeva, who scored 39.691. Israel's prior standing was 12th place, said Usmolov.
Only the top 10 competitors in the qualifying rounds advanced to the final.
Athletics relay
Runners Gideon Yablonka, Kfir Golan, Tommy Kafri, and Alexander Porkhomosvsky failed to advance past the men's 4x100m. relay heats on Friday.
The quartet finished sixth in their heat with a time of 39.76, and 26 of 40 teams.
Last year, Porkhomosvsky, Kafri and Yablonka finished ninth in the same relay at the world athletics championships in Seville.
Pole vaulting
Alex Averbukh, who, along with Kalganov, were Israel's most favored athletes to bring home a gold medal from Australia, finished 10th in Friday's pole vault final.
After sailors Shani Kedmi and Anat Fabrikant, wrestler Yuri Yevseichik, high jumper Constantin Matusevich, and swimmer Eitan Orbach missed the podium, IOC officials - as well as fans - felt the Siberian-born pole vaulter would come through.
But after clearing 5.50m. on his first attempt, Averbukh hit a snag and failed on all three attempts to vault over 5.70m.
After his third miss, Averbukh took a minute to wave to the crowd before resigning to the side to watch the competition he so much wanted to win.
At the Israel Athletic Championships in July, Averbukh broke the national pole vault record with a jump of 5.85m. He also won the bronze medal at the 1999 World Athletics Championships in Seville, becoming the first Israeli medal winner in that event.
Nick Hysong of the US won the Sydney event, his teammate Lawrence Johnson took silver, and Russia's Maksim Tarasov won bronze.
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