First Arab-Israeli athlete to win gold medal in Paralympic Games

Two weeks after the Olympics ended, the Paralympic Games got off to an incredible start for the Israeli delegation to Tokyo. Israeli Arab swimmer Iyad Shalabi won gold in the men’s 100-meter backstroke in the S1 category (tetraplegia or severe coordination problems with all four limbs) on the very first day of the games. Shalabi beat silver medalist Anton Kol of Ukraine by just 0.25 seconds.

Shalabi, who hails from the Arab town of Shfaram, was born deaf. Then, at the age of 13, his lower body was paralyzed in an accident. His win was not only the first medal for Israel in the current games, but also the first gold medal in swimming for Israel since the Athens Games in 2004, when Keren Leibovitch also won gold on the 100-meter backstroke. The last Israeli to win gold at the Paralympics in any other sport was Noam Gershoni, who won in tennis in London in 2012.