Sharp-shooter Shaziri claims bronze in Rio
PARALYMPICS DORONShazirihas had his fair share of ups and downs in life, but the 49-year-old Israeli veteran describes the 2016 Rio Paralympics as his best sporting achievement after winning bronze in the Shooting competition.
As a new IDF recruit in 1987, Shaziri, then aged 18, lost a leg after stepping on a landmine while on patrol on the Israel-Lebanon border. He has also had to put personal tragedy behind him after losing his wife to cancer two years before London 2012.
Shaziri, who competes with a prosthetic leg and runs a business adapting wheelchairs for injured soldiers, secured third place in the RN 50 metres rifle 3 positions event. He scored 437.5 points, behind Serbia’s Laslo Suranji (453.7), who won gold, and Abdullah Sultan Al Ariyani of the UAE who secured silver with 451.6 points.
“This took a lot of psychological work, technique, and keeping my nerve. But today I succeeded because I was able to stay calm,” commented Shaziri.
The former sniper had previously won four silver and three bronze medals and carried Israel’s flag at the London opening ceremony.
Yet despite standing on the podium in every Paralympics since Atlanta in 1996, he said: “I’m still very excited. Nothing is ever certain ahead of time and I’ve had a weak year so far and yet I still made it to the podium. This year was my best competition.”
There was also joy for rower Moran Samuel who took bronze in the AS Women’s 1,000mm Singles Sculls with a time of 5: 17.46 behind Britain’s Rachel Morris and China’s Lili Wang.
A former Israeli international basketball player, Samuel was paralysed from the waist down after a spinal stroke. She expressed “delight” after improving on her fifth place finish at the London Paralympics, despite carrying a hand injury.
“I had wanted to win gold and hear the Israeli anthem from the podium but bronze is fine too. I gave everything I could.
“I now have a bronze medal to go with my son Arad (bronze in Hebrew).”
Shraga Weinberg and Itai Erenlib came agonisingly close to a bronze medal in the men’s doubles wheelchair tennis. The Israelis succumbed to Britain’s Jamie Burdekin and Andy Lapthorne 6-3, 4-6, 6-7. Played in unrelenting heat, the match lasted four and a half hours including a 30-minute break to allow the players to recuperate, before the Brits took it in the tiebreak.