Hanna Knyazyeva-Minenko was jumping for joy after winning silver at the European Athletics Championships in Amsterdam.
Knyazyeva-Minenko, 26, became only the second Israeli athlete to claim a medal at the event - following an outstanding performance in the triple jump.
She followed in the footsteps of Alex Averbukh in registering a podium finish after leaping 14.51 meters - a season's best performance for which she will receive NIS 28,000.
“I’m really happy and this gives me a lot of confidence," said Knyazyeva-Minenko who will be looking for more silverware at next month's Rio Olympics.
"I really wanted to hear the Hatikva national anthem, but maybe there is an advantage to finishing in second place as that means I won’t be able to relax ahead of Brazil.
For Knyazyeva-Minenko, it marked a memorable return to the sport following an injury. She said: "This achievement hasn’t really sunk in yet. I was in a bad state one month ago. I had a really tough time coming back from injury and was really suffering.”
Knyazyeva-Minenko aside, the 15 other members of Israel's delegation in Amsterdam all performed poorly. Pole vaulter Dimitry Kroiter finished 13th with a leap of 2.23 meters. His effort was not high enough to reach the finals but it was good enough to meet the Rio Olympics criteria.
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