Israel’s Best Male Athletes of the 21st Century

Following up from my piece about Israel’s best female athletes, here is one on Israel’s best male athletes.

Gal Fridman (Windsurfing)
Already an Olympic medalist after winning bronze in Atlanta, he made history when he became Israel’s first Olympic gold medalist! Israel had won Nobel Prizes, Eurovisions and Academy Awards but there was nothing like winning an Olympic gold medal and hearing Hatikvah at the Olympics. It is easily one of Israel’s top-five most iconic sports moments and will forever remain so.

Andy Ram and Yoni Erlich (Tennis)
Tennis is one of the few truly global sports and in Andy Ram and Yoni Erlich, Israel had an all-star pairing. They won many ATP titles together with the highlight being the 2008 Australian Open men’s doubles championship. They also were vital members of Israel’s Davis Cup team.

Artem Dolgopyat (Artistic Gymnastics)
Dolgopyat may not be Israeli’s most famous athlete but he’s one of the best. With one gold and one silver, he is Israel’s most successful Olympian ever. He won gold at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics in the men’s floor exercise which he followed up with silver in Paris.

Deni Avdija (Basketball)
In Israel, basketball is one of the top sports and a few players have made it all the way to the NBA. Drafted by the Washington Wizards in the 2020 NBA Draft, he was traded to the Portland Trail Blazers where his career has gone to the next level.

Eran Zahavi (Football)
Israel has also produced a number of fantastic footballers. It’s hard to narrow it down to one but Eran Zahavi has been incredible for club and country. He is Israel’s leading scorer.

There are many other athletes I could have listed and maybe to be fair I need to do a part II. What is great is that regardless of the sport you play, there are inspirational figures and even if you aren’t into sport, these athletes provide so much pride for representing Israel with distinction.