{"id":646235,"date":"2026-10-14T14:58:14","date_gmt":"2026-10-14T14:58:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/646235\/"},"modified":"2026-10-14T14:58:14","modified_gmt":"2026-10-14T14:58:14","slug":"israeli-judoka-hershko-takes-home-bronze-medal-in-world-championships","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/646235\/","title":{"rendered":"Israeli judoka Hershko takes home bronze medal in World Championships"},"content":{"rendered":"

Israeli judoka Raz Hershko, one of the country\u2019s top athletes, missed a major opportunity in 2025 when the 12-day war between Israel and Iran closed Israeli airspace, preventing her from traveling to Budapest. Earlier this year, she withdrew from the Tashkent Grand Slam after the Shin Bet<\/a> ordered the Israeli team to leave Uzbekistan.<\/p>\n

But nothing could keep Hershko off the podium this weekend, when she won a bronze medal at the World Judo Championships in Baku, Azerbaijan<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Hershko, 28, burst into tears after winning the bout that secured her medal.<\/p>\n

Hershko dedicates her win to IDF soldier killed in Oct. 7 massacre\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cRepresenting Israel has always been something that moves me, but at this moment, it carries so much more meaning,\u201d Hershko told JTA. \u201cAt the end of the day, I step onto the mat alone, but I feel like I have an entire country behind me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hershko dedicated her victory to the memory of Yonatan Gutin, an Israeli soldier killed on October 7<\/a>, 2023, as well as his family and the people of Israel.<\/p>\n

\"RazRaz Hershko of Israel poses for a picture with the Bronze medal, at the Tel Aviv 2022 Grand Prix Judo tournament, on February 19, 2022 (credit: Roy Alima\/Flash90)<\/p>\n

According to his official memorial page, Gutin, a 20-year-old Israel Defense Forces officer, was killed fighting to rescue civilians during the battle for Kibbutz Be\u2019eri. Judo was a central part of his life. He had trained in the sport for about 14 years and was a member of Israel\u2019s cadet national team. Even during his military service, he occasionally returned to his judo club to coach.<\/p>\n

‘I was aiming for gold’<\/p>\n

Despite the achievement, Hershko made clear that bronze was not the result she had hoped for.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m pretty disappointed that the day ended with a bronze medal, because I was aiming for gold,\u201d she said. \u201cBut now it\u2019s time to look ahead to the next goals.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hershko has established herself in recent years as one of the world\u2019s leading judokas and one of Israel\u2019s most prominent athletes. She won an individual silver medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics and a gold medal at the 2024 European Championships. She competes in the women\u2019s heavyweight division.<\/p>\n

Her latest achievement came just days after Israel marked the third anniversary of the October 7 Hamas-led attacks<\/a>, a date that has continued to shape the country\u2019s public life and weigh heavily on its athletes competing abroad.<\/p>\n

\u201cKnowing that I was able to give people back home even a few moments of happiness, a smile, a sense of pride \u2014 that means so much to me. Especially during the times we\u2019re going through, these are the moments that remind me why I do what I do,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n

The judoka said that \u201ceverything has felt different since Oct. 7\u201d and that she can\u2019t \u201cdisconnect\u201d herself from the Israeli reality.<\/p>\n

\u201cBefore that, I would go into competitions feeling immense pride in representing my country,\u201d she said. \u201cToday, that pride is even stronger. I\u2019m much more aware of what the flag I wear represents, and of the fact that I stand for something far bigger than myself.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hershko, however, has little time to dwell on the medal. She told Channel 13 that she would take two days off before returning to training ahead of another competition next week. Asked by JTA how she has managed to stay hungry and focused after achieving so much, the Israeli athlete said she simply enjoys the journey.<\/p>\n

\u201cI really love what I do. I love judo, I love competing, I love the challenges, and I think that\u2019s what keeps me hungry,\u201d she said. \u201cOf course, I\u2019m proud of everything I\u2019ve achieved, but I never feel like I\u2019m done or that there\u2019s nothing left to strive for. At the end of the day, the medals are incredible moments, but the journey is what builds me as an athlete, and I\u2019m still enjoying that journey.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Israeli judoka Raz Hershko, one of the country\u2019s top athletes, missed a major opportunity in 2025 when the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":646236,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[14330,85,46,245091,126657,43,6661],"class_list":["post-646235","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-israel","tag-azerbaijan","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-israeli-athletes","tag-judo-israel","tag-news","tag-olympics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/646235","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=646235"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/646235\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/646236"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=646235"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=646235"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=646235"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}