Windsurfer Friedman wins Israel's first ever Olympic gold

[Gimel]

Gal Friedman was awarded a gold medal for the windsurfing event at a ceremony in Athens on Wednesday evening, Israel's first ever gold at the Olympics.

Friedman - the first Israeli to win two Olympic medals after winning the bronze in 1996 - finished the last of the 11 races in second place, but took the gold by scoring 42 points.

The silver went to Nikos Kaklamanakis of Greece, who finished with 52 points and Nick Dempsey of Britain won bronze.

After Friedman crossed the finish line, he took a victory dip and then wrapped himself in an Israeli flag when he came out of the water.

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With participation in sports and cultural events, Israel becomes more accepted as a nation. It is a good sign.

[IA_Seth]

1. Congratulations

Aside from our differences in opinion here - Congratulations on your nations first gold. It is a fine accomplishment.

[Violet_Crumble]

3. Windsurfing's a pretty good sport...

I would have watched that one if I'd known it was on. I generally hate sports of all sorts and refuse to play any of them, but I used to love windsurfing back in the days when I had time to do fun stuff. Thank goodness it was windsurfing Israel got its first gold medal for and not ping pong, which has to be the dumbest Olympics event known to mankind....

Violet...

[Blayde Starrfyre]

4. Dumbest ever?

Personally I think windsurfing is a pretty stupid sport. But they have got to stop adding these "XTREME" sports to the Olympics. Beach volleyball, windsurfing, and snowboarding have got to go. Then you have your classic bad sports like speedwalking, rhythmic gymnastics, and the worst of all, synchronized swimming.

[Gimel]

5. It takes skill

Israel is swept with winds. Understanding wind power is not as instinctive as it seems. To be the best in any sport takes endurance. It's as skillful as swimming the butterfly stroke, actually.

[Violet_Crumble]

6. We're agreed on synchronised swimming...

It's so pointless and all that fake smiling is lame. But I think windsurfing is every bit a legitimate sport as rowing is, and there's a lot of skill involved in it, especially when it comes to racing. I mastered the balancing and moving at really high speeds part of it, but I never quite got the hang of getting back to shore without sitting down and paddling my board back in...

Anyway, I'm all for no more 'xtreme' sports being added to the Olympics until cricket is restored to its rightful place as an Olympics sport, along with a new sub-category for sledging. Australia would be a certainty for gold in both events....

Violet...

[Nadav]

2. Mazel Tov