Israel sets record with 2020 Olympic delegation

Even before the 2020 Olympic Games begin in Tokyo, Israel will have set a new record. Its planned delegation will be its largest ever. Team Israel will include about 85 athletes in 18 sports in the competition this July.

For the first time, Israeli athletes will compete in surfing and equestrian show jumping. Other sports where Israelis will take the field include rhythmic and artistic gymnastics, cycling, sailing, and shooting.

“This is a crazy number by Israeli standards,” Vered Buskila, vice president of the Olympic Committee of Israel, told NoCamels last week. “That’s something that we never thought could happen.”

Two dozen of the participants make up the national baseball team, which last month became the second of six teams to qualify for the Olympics.

Israel has won nine Olympic medals since it first began competing in 1952, starting with Yael Arad’s silver in judo in 1992.

JTA