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In Eilat, medalist Zubari's family celebrates with entire country
By Revital Levy-Stein and Yuval Azoulay
Tags: Beijing, Olympics, Israel 

The hours of hope and suspense that preceded Shahar Zubari's final battle yesterday for Israel's only Olympic medal in Beijing found the windsurfer's mother dry-eyed and relatively composed in an upper-floor room of her Eilat home. She did not burst into tears until a few hours after her son received the bronze medal, when she took a phone call from a bereaved father who had lost his son, a professional athlete, in the Second Lebanon War.

Vered Zubari did not know the man, and it was the first time they spoke. "He told me it gave him pleasure, and then all the suspense and pressure I was feeling just drained out," she said after the phone conversation.

During the intense competition, Zubari's mother felt she had to leave the rest of the family glued to the living room television set. She had to be alone. Her composure was characteristic of most other family members, who watched the race intently but without hardly any cheers or yelps.
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The medalist's uncle, Doron Zubari, who runs the city's docks, couldn't take the suspense. He also had to leave the living room. Walking around the garden most of the time, he occasionally peeked at the television through the open blinds.

Zubari's aunt, Orit, was the only family member whose excitement was immediately visible. She waved an Israeli flag when the medals were awarded. As for the other relatives, they sang the national anthem, "Hatikva," while the television played one of New Zealand's national anthems in honor of gold medalist Tom Ashley.

"He always went for the gold, and he's gone for the gold this time around, too," Zubari's grandfather, Tuvia, said about his grandson. "I always thought of him as a hero, ever since I threw him into the water when he was four years old," he recalled.

The words "Mom, I can't hear you" were all that Vered, the mother, managed to hear from her son when he called right after winning the bronze medal. "Shahar, we're very proud of you and we are very glad. The whole family is happy and the house is full of happy people who came to be here with us. I love you," she told him.

The father, Ze'ev, said that even though he always thought his son would "do it," he tried to "keep it all in proportion." He added that he somehow knew his son would beat the tough competition. "Shahar is a winner through and through - he never settles for second place. He recently told me that pressure is something that builds him up," he recalled.

Ze'ev says he knows exactly what he's going to tell his son when they meet at Ben Gurion Airport's arrivals hall. "I'll give him a big hug and tell him: 'way to go, you did it just right.'"

The decision to stay in Eilat instead of flying with his son to Beijing was the right choice, the proud father adds. "I think I did the right thing by staying here. I went there a month ago and knew I could never come near the Olympic races themselves. Sitting here with friends and family is great, we can all be happy together. But waiting there would have been too nerve-wracking. It's less stressful here."

Roni Meir, who heads Eilat's sailing club and is one of the athlete's trainers, did not take credit for the achievement. "Shahar did what he did by himself. We built his program for him and suited it to his needs, but that was after we realized years ago that he had what it takes." Meir said he knew from the start that his trainee would take bronze. "He is truly a superb athlete, who lent strength to the entire club," he concluded.

Rafa Balilius, Zubari's surfing trainer, said: "Shahar never finished in fourth. He's done it before where on the penultimate day he was fourth and still won a medal."

As for Tal, Zubari's elder sister, who as a professional windsurfer perhaps has a special understanding of what the competition may have been like, wondered whether the whole experience was enjoyable for the medalist. "It's important for me to know that Shahar enjoyed the whole thing," she said.

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      1.   notrhing like a mothers love 17:39  |  Dr Noam 21/08/08
      2.   That`s our boy!!!! 19:01  |  Ethan 21/08/08
      3.   I wish Chinese were like that. 19:50  |  mmm 21/08/08
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