Israeli athletes clinched three medals at the European Judo Championships in Tbilisi, Georgia, over the weekend, capping a successful tournament in one of the Jewish state’s strongest sports.
Raz Hershko won a gold medal in the women’s over-78kg category on the last day of the championships on Sunday.
Hershko beat France’s Lea Fontaine in just 52 seconds to clinch the gold for the second time in her career, after earlier overcoming Croatia’s Helena Vukovic in the semifinal.
In doing so, Hershko became only the third Israeli to win more than one gold medal at the continental championship, after Arik Zeevi and Sagi Muki.
This is Hershko’s fifth consecutive medal at the European Championships. In 2022, 2023, and 2025, she won a silver medal, and in 2024, she won her first gold medal.
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It was her first time competing since the European Championships in April last year, after being forced to miss the World Championships due to Israel’s war with Iran in June 2025.
In 2024, Hershko won the silver medal in the women’s over-78kg weight class at the Paris Olympics.
Israel’s Raz Hershko celebrates her win against France’s Lea Fontaine in the women’s over-78kg category gold medal bout at the Judo European Senior Championships 2026 in Tbilisi on April 19, 2026. (Giorgi ARJEVANIDZE / AFP)
Earlier in the European Judo Championships, Timna Nelson-Levy won a silver medal in the women’s under-57kg category, losing the final match to Georgia’s Eteri Liparteliani.
At 31, she was the oldest Israeli female judoka to win a medal at the European Championships.
On the men’s team, 18-year-old Izhak Ashpiz won the bronze medal in the under-60kg category.
There were 16 athletes in Israel’s national judo team at the competition in Georgia.
Inbar Lanir (under 78kg) finished without a medal on Sunday after injuring her shoulder in her quarterfinal bout against a French opponent. Lanir withdrew from the competition.
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