It was one of those sporting moments that could never be created by human design alone.
It was magic enough that the Israeli rhythmic gymnastics team won gold at the World Cup in Baku, Azerbaijan, earlier this month.
But add in the fact it took place on the Shabbat after Yom HaShoah and before Yom HaZikaron and Yom Ha’atzmaut, in a Muslim country and in front of an emotional Israeli crowd – and it was impossible not to be moved.
“To see our flag rising on the podium on this this specific day carried a special meaning to me, to all of our team, and hopefully – to all Israelis and Jews around the world,” head coach Ayelet Zussman told the JC.
“Azerbaijan is a Muslim country and we all know how vulnerable and fragile is Israel’s situation since the October 7 massacre and the Gaza war,” she added. “Therefore, we were quite surprised to receive such a significant support in the arena in Baku. The stands were full of Israeli flags and when we won the national anthem – Hatikvah – was played and it was a very emotional and moving moment,” Zussman said.
Agam Gev, the Israeli captain who together with her five teammates won two gold medals – in the all-around competition and the five-balls routine – told the JC: “It was overall an amazing experience. It was just so much fun to compete.
“Despite the fact the stakes were high, we were confident and relaxed during our routines. We just wanted to show what we’ve worked on in practices for so long and so hard. It was just great to get on the mat and perform to the crowd. Furthermore, in the hoop routine we danced to an Israeli song so we also got to bring some Israeli energy to the arena.”
Rhythmic gymnastics is a very young sport – Gev, as well as her teammates, are 17 and 16 years old – but it is also one of the most demanding.
“Those girls work ten hours a day, six days a week. They’ve been involved in this sport since they were seven or eight years old,” said Zussman, “by the age of 20 or 21 in most cases, you’ll already be retired. The burnout, physical and mental, is significant. And still, we have a young team. They are as talented and determined as the most veteran athletes.”
Gev agrees with her coach, but she thinks “this sport is just fun. It’s been like that for me since the first day I started in elementary school. I knew how to do a ‘somersault’, ‘roller’ and ‘spaghetti’ even before so maybe I had an inclination for this. But it was not only success all of the time. For example, I was not accepted to Israel’s national junior team.
“But I continued to work and apply myself even more so when they held try-outs for the senior team less than a year ago I was accepted.”
And here she is now – captain of the World Cup gold medal team. “Winning it was amazing,” said Gev, “to stand on the top of the podium with your friends and teammates, to see our flag being raised to the top, singing our national anthem and showing the world that even on those very challenging days for Israel, during a war, we can still continue to train hard and leave our country and compete in this great championship and still win it – it just shows the strength and the resolve of Israel.”
Over the past two and a half years, Israel has become something of a pariah in world sports. Many countries do not even want to host Israeli teams in major international competitions because of the “negative attention” it could bring – which could include violent anti-Israel demonstrations.
Therefore, winning the gold – actually, two golds – in a major event held in a Muslim country puts Israeli rhythmic gymnastics in a rarefied place.
The sport is relatively new to Israel. “Rhythmic gymnastics was brought to us by the Russians who made aliyah during the 1990s,” said Zussman.
“In Russia, as well as other ex-Soviet counties, this is a big-time sport and they brought this culture of excellence to Israel. But today, Israeli girls who don’t have Russian parents, like Agam Gev for example, excel in this sport just like the girls with Russian or Soviet ancestors. Our national team, actually, consists of three girls with Soviet roots and three girls without them.”
Zussman does not have any Soviet background but was trained by Russian coaches as a young gymnast and today she is trying to instil “their culture of grit, discipline, sacrifice and utter dedication to excellence” in her athletes. It is clearly working. Linoy Ashram, her first pupil, won gold in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and the national team the silver in the 2024 Paris games. Maybe in the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, the national team could repeat the feat. “This would be our biggest dream”, say Gev and Zussman.
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