The 2024 Olympics have kicked off in Paris, and among the delegates competing this year are dozens of Jewish athletes from around the globe. And while the Israeli delegation brings many talented Jewish athletes to the international arena, so too do several other national teams – and we’ve found them all so you don’t have to.
Australia
At least seven Jewish athletes are competing for Australia in the Olympics, one of whom has already won gold less than a week into the Games. Jessica Fox, a French-born canoeist from New South Wales, is representing Australia in the women’s slalom K-1, women’s slalom C-1 and women’s slalom kayak cross events in Paris. The 30-year-old athlete, who was named flag bearer for her country, won the gold medal for the women’s slalom k-1 and women’s slalom c-1.
Gold Medalist Jessica Fox of Team Australia poses on the podium on 28 July 28, 2024 in Paris, France. (Photo by Francois Nel/Getty Images)
Jessica, an 8-time world champion and 2-time Olympic champion, is the daughter of former Olympic canoeists, Myriam Fox-Jerusalmi, who is Jewish, and former world champion Richard Fox.
Joining Jessica in Paris is younger sister Noemie Fox, 27, who has carved out a name for herself in her Olympic debut by winning gold in the women’s slalom kayak cross on 5 August. Noemie has previously won two gold medals and a silver medal at the ICF Canoe Slalom World Championships in 2019, 2023 and 2017 respectively.
Noemie Fox of Australia competes in the Women's Kayak Cross during the 2023 ICF Canoe Slalom World Cup slalom at Vaires-Sur-Marne Nautical Stadium at Vaires-Sur-Marne Nautical Stadium. (Photo by Aurelien Meunier/Getty Images)
Twenty-six-year-old Jewish athlete Jemima Montag will be competing in the women’s 20km racewalking event on 1 August after placing sixth in the event during the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo. At age 15, the Melbourne-native was awarded the Australian 2013 Outstanding Jewish Junior Sportswoman of the Year Award for her wins at the state and national championships in the under-20 division.
Jemima Montag on her way to winning the 10000 race Walk during the 2024 Australian Athletics Championships at SA Athletics Stadium in Adelaide, Australia. (Photo by Sarah Reed/Getty Images)
Josh Katz, an Australian judoka, competed in his first Olympics in 2016 when he became Australia’s youngest male judo athlete to take part in the Games. Katz, 26, lost in the men's -60kg event this past weekend to Italian Andrea Carlino, eight years after his Olympics debut.
Australia's Joshua Katz and Italy's Andrea Carlino (Blue) compete in the judo men's -60kg round of 32 round bout of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games at the Champ-de-Mars Arena, in Paris on 27 July, 2024. (Photo by JACK GUEZ/AFP via Getty Images)
Rhythmic gymnasts Jess Weintraub, 17, and Alexandra Kiroi-Bogatyreva, 22, are both Jewish and both began competing at a young age. Competing with the Aspire Gymnastics Academy rhythmic gymnastics group in 2023, Weintraub placed fifth in the all-around at the Tashkent World Cup, and the group won a silver medal in the group all-around at the Australian Championships. Along with her teammates Weintraub won gold in the group all-around at the Oceania Championships, earning her a place on the Olympic team. Kiroi-Bogatyreva, the daughter of Russian immigrants, won five bronze medals at the 2022 Maccabiah Games in Israel and has competed at the Rhythmic Gymnastics World Championships five times, from 2018 to 2023. She is a four-time Australian all-around champion.
Alexandra Kiroi-Bogatyreva of Team Australia competes with clubs during the Clubs Final on day nine of the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games at Arena Birmingham. (Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)
Kiroi-Bogatyreva will be competing in the women’s individual all-around final for rhythmic gymnastics on 10 August, and Weintraub will compete in the group all-around final on 11 August.
Water polo player Sienna Green, 19, made her debut with the Australian women’s team the Stingers in 2022, serving as captain and becoming the highest goal-scorer of the Australian team at the 2022 FINA World Women's Youth Water Polo Championships in Belgrade, Serbia. After a successful US college season for UCLA in 2023, Green was selected in the Stingers’ 2024 world championships squad.
Australian Women's Water Polo player Sienna Green poses during an Australian 2024 Paris Olympic Games Water Polo Squad portrait session in Sydney, Australia. (Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)
The Australian women’s water polo team defeated China 7-5 in a preliminary round on Saturday and will compete in the finals from 6-10 August.
Canada
This year Canada boasts two Jewish Olympic hopefuls. Beach volleyball player Sam Schacter, 34, is competing with partner Daniel Dearing in the men’s volleyball tournament after representing Canada in the 2015 Pan American Games and the 2016 Summer Olympics. Schacter and then-partner Josh Binstock won silver at the 2018 Commonwealth Games.
Canada's #01 Samuel Schachter and Canada's #02 Daniel Dearing celebrate a point in the men's pool E beach volleyball match between Czech Republic and Canada during the Paris 2024 Olympic Games on 28 July, 2024. (Photo by LUIS TATO/AFP via Getty Images)
The preliminary phase of the men’s beach volleyball tournament featuring Schacter and Dearing will take place on Wednesday evening as they face off against Brazil.
Tel-Aviv-born Israeli-Canadian fencer Shaul Gordon, 30, has competed at two Pan American Games and six World Fencing Championships. Gordon took home the silver medal for the team sabre event at the 2015 Pan American Games in Toronto, Gordon finished in eighth place in the individual event at the 2019 World Fencing Championships, the highest ever finish in such an event by a Canadian athlete.
Canada's Shaul Gordon poses with the bronze medal during the podium ceremony of the men's sabre individual finals gold medal bout fencing event of the Pan American Games Santiago 2023. (Photo by PABLO VERA/AFP via Getty Images)
Gordon was defeated by Italian fencer Luigi Samele during the men’s individual sabre event on Saturday.
New Zealand
Jo Aleh, a Jewish sailor representing New Zealand, is the daughter of a British-born mother, who is a former IDF soldier, and an Israeli father. Aleh, 38, competes in the two-woman 470 dinghy, an event for which she won gold in the London 2012 Olympics and silver in the Rio 2016 Olympics. In 2007 she won the 420 World Championships at Takapuna and won silver and bronze at the 470 World Championships in 2010 and 2011. A dedicated sailor since the age of 10, Aleh reportedly asked guests at her bat mitzvah in Be’er Sheva, Israel to help sponsor her first sailboat.
Jo Aleh of Team New Zealand poses for a photo as she wears the Te Mahutonga cloak during the Team New Zealand Flagbearer Announcement ahead of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games on 25 July, 2024. (Photo by Hannah Peters/Getty Images)
Aleh will compete in the women’s dinghy final event on 6 August.
Ukraine
Tennis player Elina Svitolina, 29, was the first Ukrainian player ever to win an Olympic medal when she won the bronze in Tokyo in 2021. Svitolina, who has a Jewish grandmother, reached a career-high ranking of world No.3 in singles tennis by the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) in 2017, and has won 17 WTA Tour singles titles.
Elina Svitolina of Team Ukraine celebrates against Moyuka Uchijima of Team Japan during the Women's Singles first round match on day two of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 on 28 July, 2024 in Paris, France. (Photo by Matthew Stockman/Getty Images)
Svitolina beat Japanese player Moyuka Uchijima in the women’s singles first round on Sunday and will play in the finals on 3 August.
USA
After the Israeli delegation, Team USA has the most with athletes, almost half of whom are competing in fencing events. Left-handed sabre fencer Eli Dershwitz, 28, is a five-time individual Pan American champion, two-time Olympian and 2023 Sabre World Champion. The Massachusetts native is the grandson of Holocaust survivors from Poland, and he grew up attending a conservative synagogue.
Eli Dershwitz poses for a portrait during team USA Fencing media day at New York Athletic Club on 21 May, 2024 in New York City. (Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images)
Dershwitz was defeated by Hungarian fencer Csanád Gémesi in the men’s individual sabre event on Saturday.
Foil fencer Nick Itkin, 24, is representing the US (and American Jews) in both individual and team fencing events in Paris, beating Italian fencer Guillaume Bianchi in the men’s foil fencing individual quarter finals on Monday and set to compete in the individual final and group final next week. Itkin, who is from Los Angeles, is a two-time NCAA champion, 2024 individual Pan American Games gold medalist, and 2021 team Olympic bronze medalist.
Nick Itkin celebrates his victory in the Fencing Men's Foil Individual Table of 32 on day three of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 on 29 July, 2024 in Paris, France. (Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images)
New Jersey native and sabre fencer Mitchell Saron, 23, is also competing in both the individual and group events. The Filipino-Jewish athlete won a gold medal in the team portion of the Fencing National Championships in 2019 and in the team portion of the Men’s Sabre World Cup in 2024. Saron lost to Egyptian fencer Ziad Elsissy in the men’s individual sabre event on Saturday, and will compete in the men’s group sabre event on Wednesday.
Mitchell Saron of Team USA reacts during the Men's Sabre Individual Table of 32 on day one of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 on 27 July, 2024 in Paris, France. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images)
Foil fencer Maia Weintraub, 21, competing in the women’s team foil event on 1 August, was ranked second in the world among junior women’s foil in 2021 and won both the 2019 and 2023 USA Fencing Women's Foil National Championships. Weintraub also won the 2022 NCAA national women's foil championship.
Maia Weintraub poses for a portrait during team USA Fencing media day at New York Athletic Club on 21 May, 2024 in New York City. (Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images)
Jackie Dubrovich, 30, is a foil fencer, two-time Olympian and winner of a bronze medal in the 2019 World Fencing Championships. Though she lost her first bout in the individual women’s foil event in Paris to Hungarian fencer Flora Pasztor, Dubrovich will compete in the women’s foil team event against China on 1 August.
Jackie Dubrovich of Team USA responds to questions ahead of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games on 24 July, 2024 in Paris, France. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)
Twenty-four-year-old sabre fencer Elizabeth Tartakovsky, the daughter of Jewish Ukrainian immigrants, is competing in the individual and team events in Paris. Tartakovsky was a bronze medalist at the NCAA Championships in sabre in 2019 and the World Cadets Fencing Championship in 2017, and at the 2023 Pan American Fencing Championship, she tied for third place. Tartakovsky lost in the individual sabre event to Egyptian Nada Hafez on Monday but will compete with the women’s team on 3 August.
Elizabeth Tartakovsky reacts while competing in the Fencing Women's Sabre Individual Table of 32 on day three of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 on 29 July, 2024. (Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images)
Olympic freestyle swimmer Claire Weinstein came in first during the women’s 200m freestyle semifinals on Sunday at just 17 years old. The New York-born swimmer, who currently swims for the Las Vegas Sandpipers of Nevada, helped Team USA win the gold medal in women’s 4x200m freestyle at the 2022 World Aquatics Championships in Budapest, Hungary. Raised in reform Judaism, Weinstein’s mitzvah project was to coach young swimmers at the Westchester Aquatic Club.
Claire Weinstein reacts after competing in a semifinal of the women's 200m freestyle swimming event during the Paris 2024 Olympic Games on 28 July, 2024. (Photo by JONATHAN NACKSTRAND/AFP via Getty Images)
Rock climber Jesse Grupper, 27, is representing the US in sports climbing, qualifying for the 2024 Olympics by winning the 2023 Pan American Championships in the combined boulder and lead climbing discipline. In 2022, Grupper came third overall in the 2022 IFSC Climbing World Cup in the lead climbing category.
Jesse Grupper competes in Men's Boulder & Lead at Muros de Escalada Parque Cerrillos on Day 3 of Santiago 2023 Pan Am games. (Photo by Claudio Santana/Getty Images)
South African-born rugby player Sarah Levy, 28, moved to Israel at two years old when her family made aliyah, and remained there for about a year before relocating to California, where she grew up. Levy played for USA Ruby’s fifteens team in 2018 before switching to sevens. She plays the wing position in the fifteens, and plays hooker, winger, centre, or prop in the sevens. She is playing for Team USA’s women’s team, whose quarterfinal takes place Monday night.
Sarah Levy runs with the ball during the Women's Pool C match between the US and Japan on day two of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 on 28 July, 2024 in Paris, France. (Photo by Hannah Peters/Getty Images)
Amit Elor, 20, born to Israeli parents, is a freestyle wrestler who won the gold medal in her event at the 2023 Pan American Wrestling Championships in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Also in 2023, Elor won a gold medal at the World Junior Wrestling Championships in Amman, Jordan. She will be competing in the women’s freestyle 68kg wrestling event in Paris.
Amit Elor celebrates her victory during the World Wrestling Championships in Belgrade on 21 September, 2023. (Photo by ANDREJ ISAKOVIC/AFP via Getty Images)
Pistol shooter Ada Korkhin, 19, whose Israeli father introduced her to air pistol shooting at nine years old, won a gold medal at the 2024 Championship of the Americas (CAT) Games in Women’s 25m Sport Pistol Team, and a bronze medal from the 2023 International Shooting Sports Federation (ISSF) Junior World Championship in Women’s 25m Sport Pistol. A first time Olympian, the Boston-born shooter will compete in the women’s 25m pistol event on 2 August.
Ada Korkhin smiles as she is awarded the bronze medal for Women's 25m Pistol during the Junior World Championship in 2023. (Photo: USA Shooting via X)
Sam Mattis, 30, is a two-time Olympian discus thrower for Team USA. Mattis, who was born in Jamaica to a Jewish mother and raised in New York, finished in first place at the 2015 NCAA National Championships and at the 2019 Outdoor USA Track and Field Championships. He ranked No. 8 in the men’s discus throw event at the Tokyo Olympics in 2020.
Sam Mattis competes in the men's discus throw final on Day Nine of the 2024 U.S. Olympic Team Track & Field Trials at Hayward Field on 29 June, 2024. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images)
Tennis player Taylor Fritz, 26, whose grandmother was Jewish, is competing in the men’s doubles and singles events in Paris. As of 2023, Fritz has a career-high singles ranking of No. 5 in the world by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), and has won eight ATP Tour singles titles. He reached the quarterfinals of the 2022 and 2024 Wimbledon Championships, the 2023 US Open and the 2024 Australian Open. Fritz, whose mother Kathy May was in the top 10 of the world rankings in the late 1970s, beat Kazakhstani player Alexander Bublik in the men’s singles first round on Saturday, and faces Canada in the men’s doubles first round on Monday.
Taylor Fritz looks on during the Men's Singles first round match on day one of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 on 27 July, 2024 in Paris, France. (Photo by Matthew Stockman/Getty Images)