Wheelchair tennis player Noam Gershony registered the biggest accomplishment of his illustrious career on Saturday by winning gold in the quad single's final. Gershony, ranked second in the world, defeated world no. 1 David Wagner of the United States 6-3, 6-1.
In front of a packed stadium, Gershony played increasingly better as the match wore on, and was particularly strong with his returns. He played smart, making accurate shots that produced several winners.
After his triumph, Gershony was selected to be Israel's flag bearer in Sunday night's closing ceremonies. "I didn't expect this sort of thing," an excited Gershony said on Saturday. "I also didn't expect to get so emotional on the podium and to hear [Israeli national anthem] 'Hatikva,'" he added.
Gershony secured his country's first gold, and seventh medal overall, but Israel was not finished with visits to the medal podium. Minutes later, swimmer Inbal Pezaro finished the women's 100-meter freestyle S5 in 1:22.56, to claim her third bronze medal of the Games. She improved over three seconds from her fifth-ranked showing in the heats yesterday afternoon to swim past Norway's Sarah Louise Rung, who had won Pezaro's heat.
With only Gad Yarkoni who is not a medal hope ¬ Israel's final competitor, in Sunday's marathon, Israel is slated to finish the London Games with one gold, two silvers and five bronze medals, ranking it among the top 50 at the Paralympics.
The delegation is scheduled to return to Israel tomorrow night at 10:30 P.M and to meet President Shimon Peres on Tuesday.
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YNet NEWS
Israeli actress Hadas Yaron won the Coppa Volpi award for best actress at the 69th Venice Film Festival on Saturday.
Yaron, 22, won for her role in Rama Burshtein's film, "Fill the Void," about the ultra-Orthodox community.
The award is a huge achievement for Yaron, whose performance in "Fill the Void" is her first significant role.
"Fill the Void" is about a young bride torn between love and familial obligations. The film centers on Shira, an 18-year-old Hasidic girl who is thrilled about her forthcoming arranged marriage with a young man whom she has only briefly seen in a supermarket.
Tragedy strikes when Shira's older sister Esther dies giving birth, leaving the family crushed by grief.
Esther's husband Yochai is quickly pressed to remarry a widow in Belgium, but the girls' mother is desperate to keep her only grandchild in the country - and soon Shira is asked to step into her sister's shoes.
"I'm amazed and excited," said Yaron. "You can't prepare for such a moment. It's beyond my dreams.
"I would like to thank the jury for choosing to give me this wonderful award. A special thanks to Rama Burshtein and (producer) Assaf Amir for creating such a moving film. Thank you for believing in me from the start. Working on this film was a reward in itself.
"I would like to thank the wonderful cast, Yiftach Klein and Irit Sheleg, from the bottom of my heart. Thanks to Shira I learned to see people who are different and believe in the power of love."
Director Rama Burshtein said, "I would like to thank the jury for its selection and the audience for showering us with warmth and love. I'm excited for Hadas. She deserves this award for her unusual talent which goes beyond boundaries and language and won the both the jury and audience's hearts.
"There are no words to describe our experience this past week. Love, like the one described in the film, is stronger than language and culture. Human emotions are a universal language, and we've realized that this week."
As for the other awards, South Korean director Kim Ki-duk's shocking drama "Pieta" won the Golden Lion for best film.
The Silver Lion for best director went to Paul Thomas Anderson for `'The Master," inspired by Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard. The film's stars, Joaquin Phoenix and Philip Seymour Hoffman, shared the prize for best actor during the ceremony.
