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Olympics / Israel finishes sixth in rhythmic gymnastics finals
By Rami Hipsh, Haaretz Correspondent
Tags: Israel, Olympics 

As the 2008 Olympic Games came to a close on Sunday, Israel's delegation marked its place in Beijing by coming in sixth in the final round of the rhythmic gymnastics competition.

On Saturday, rhythmic gymnast Irina Risenzon finished ninth overall and the national rhythmic gymnastics team advanced to the team final in an outstanding day for Israeli gymnastics.

Risenzon, whose qualification for the individual final was a tremendous achievement in itself, fumbled in her opening routine when she accidentally dropped her rope, a mistake that prevented her from competing for a medal. "It happened because I was so nervous," she later explained. "Perhaps it's good that it happened, because then I became less nervous."
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The judges awarded Risenzon 16.350 points, a score that placed her in ninth position of the 10 finalists. She later received scores of 17.025 for her hoop routine, 16.850 for the clubs and 16.550 for the ribbon. "I knew more-or-less where I'd finish before the final, about eighth or ninth," Risenzon said. "I'm happy that I was in the Olympic final - it was a childhood dream of mine from the age of 10 that came true. Also, lots of Israelis came and cheered me on."

Also Saturday, Israel's rhythmic gymnastics team that includes Katarina Pisetsky, Veronika Vitenberg, Rahel Vigdozchik, Maria Savenkov and Olena Dvornichenko made it to the finals with a score of 16.250 in the clubs and hoops routines. The good score offered some compensation for the team's previous poor performance in the first round of the competition.

"At least we reached our goals and will finish about eighth," the team coach said. The Israeli team took sixth place in the last European championship and is considered to be among the top eight teams in the world. The team will compete in the finals today at 6 P.M. Israel time.

However, many Israelis gymnasts said Saturday that the heavily-politicized nature of the judges' scoring denies them from ever competing for a medal. "If I was from Russia I would have had a higher score," Risenzon claims.

Russian judges dominate the panels, and more often than not Russian gymnasts tend to beat their competitors from the rest of the former Soviet bloc, particularly from countries like Ukraine with which Moscow's ties are strained. In one incident yesterday, the panel of judges was forced to raise the score given to an Ukrainian gymnast after the crowd booed over what it considered unfair judging.

Another Israeli rhythm gymnast, 17-year-old Neta Rivkin, who failed to make it to the finals yesterday, vowed to start working immediately for the 2012 Olympics in London, but the slightly older Risenzon talked of taking a break. "All I want now is two weeks of holiday," Risenzon said. "If you knew my coach, you'd know how much I deserve it."

Meanwhile, Israeli runner Haile Satayin came in 69th place out of 99 particpants in Sunday's marathon event.

Satayin, who claims he is 48-years-old although his passport says he is 53, is one of the oldest athletes at the Games.

His training camp in the highlands of his country of birth, Ethiopia, was marred by two incidents in which he was incarcerated for unspecified charges, most probably related to a dispute with a local businessman over money. Despite the incidents, Satayin decided to stay in Ethiopia and complete his training instead of returning to Israel immediately.

Related articles:
  • Israel at the Beijing Olympic Games
  • It isn't worth being an athlete in Israel
  • In Eilat, medalist Zubari's family celebrates with entire country
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