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Israeli swimmer wins 2nd gold medal, 5th for Israel at Tokyo Paralympic Games

Israel’s collection of medals at the 2020 Games is significantly larger than the two bronze medals won at the 2016 Rio Games.

By TPS, World Israel News Staff

Israeli Paralympic swimmer Mark Malyar on Sunday won his second gold medal in the men’s 400 meters free-style swimming race and broke the world record at the 2020 Tokyo Paralympic Games.

He finished the race at 4:31.06 minutes, breaking the world record he set two years ago.

This is Malyar’s second gold medal in Tokyo Games. On Friday, he won the gold medal in the 200m individual medley and broke the world record.

This is Israel’s fifth medal in the Tokyo Games and the second on Sunday.

Earlier in the day, rower Moran Samuel brought pride to Israel for the fourth time during the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics Games when she won the country’s fourth medal, receiving a silver medal in the women’s 2,000-meter single sculls.

On Saturday, Israeli swimmer Ami Dadon won a silver medal, Israel’s third medal at the Tokyo Paralympic Games in the 150-meter individual medley with a result of 2: 29.48 minutes.

On Wednesday, Iyad Shalabi, an Israeli swimmer, made history when he became the first Arab-Israeli to win a gold medal at the Paralympics Games.

Shalabi came in first in the 100-meter backstroke with 2:28.04 minutes. He further made history also as the first Arab-Israeli to receive a medal in the Olympic or Paralympic Games.

“My heart was pounding. When he overtook his competitor, I cried,” Shalabi’s father, Yusuf, told Israeli media.

“He was constantly training. [For] six years, every day he trains. It’s like a dream come true.”

Regional Cooperation Minister Isawi Frej congratulated Shalabi on Twitter, saying that his achievement “honors the Arab sector and the State of Israel as a whole.”

Israel’s collection of medals at the 2020 Games is significantly larger than the two bronze medals won at the 2016 Rio Games.

These four athletes are members of the 33 athletes’ team in 11 sports Israel sent to the Tokyo Games.

These last medal joins 375 Paralympic medals Israel has won, including 130 gold medals, placing it fifteenth on the list of medal-winning countries.