Per Israele, con Zubari, una medaglia di bronzo alle Olimpiadi

Non è la prima volta che Israele vince una medagli alle Olimpiadi, pur non
avendo certo un grande medagliere, ma ancora l'effetto di una vincita è
sempre assai coinvolgente.
Ecco l'articolo con il quale il "JERUSALEM POST" ( www.jpost.com ) riporta
la notizia:
Zubari wins Olympic bronze medal

Aug. 20, 2008
jpost.com staff and allon sinai , THE JERUSALEM POST
After a disappointing run for Israel in the Beijing Olympics, windsurfer
Shahar Zubari finally gave Israelis a reason to cheer.

Zubari won the bronze medal at Wednesday's Neil Pryde finals, Israel's
first medal at the 2008 games, after arriving in second place in the final
race.

New Zealander Tom Ashley took the gold, and Frenchman Julien Bontemps won
the silver medal.

Zubari entered the decisive contest in fourth place overall, with 54
points. This meant that he had to finish at least four places ahead of
Ashley or the UK's Nick Dempsey. Dempsey ended up finishing seventh, five
places after the Israeli windsurfer.

"It was very difficult work. I'm very happy with the accomplishment,"
Zubari told Channel 1 after winning the medal. "There was a lot of support
from Israel."

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert called to congratulate Zubari during the
broadcast, telling him: "You've made us so happy. I've been following you
all of these ten days. I was constantly impressed by your cool demeanor,
your level headedness, and your self confidence - the feeling that you
conveyed to us that you will end up bringing a medal."

"You have no idea how exciting it is," Olmert continued. "I'm looking at
you now through the TV and see you holding the [Israeli] flag. There are
lots of tears of joy now in the eyes of Israelis. Your future is ahead of
you."

Zubari simply answered: "Thank you. Thank you very much."

Zubari began the race quite far behind: Believing he'd leapt early and was
risking a penalty, the windsurfer turned around and returned to the start
line. This led him to trail behind the other surfers in the first few
minutes of the race, but he quickly gained ground.

"I had a good start but I was sure I'd been penalized," Zubari said. "So I
preferred to fix it and go back to be sure. I made good tactical
decisions...and returned to the top."

Back in Israel, Zubari's family was ecstatic.

"It's a great joy. Every member of the family apart from Shahar was here at
home watching [the race]. He was on a roll when he began and he took it all
the way," Zubari's mother told Israel Radio from her home in Eilat.

President Shimon Peres and Opposition leader Binyamin Netanyahu also called
to congratulate Zubari.

"In the name of all the people of Israel I send you a large embrace, our
love and our pride in you," Peres said.