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2024 World Aquatics Championships
The ongoing conflict between Israel and host Qatar thankfully eased slightly at the 2024 World Aquatics Championships, which took place in the Qatari capital Doha this week as security tightened. Although there is a general perception of tensions, and the small Israeli contingent is accompanied by soldiers, among other security measures, the issue has remained relatively calm with no major incidents.
However, the ongoing issues became more apparent on the final individual podium of the competition. Anastasia Gorbenko He finished in 4:37.36, 0.22 seconds behind the winner, and was interviewed by the on-deck announcer about winning the silver medal. Freya Colbert British. This was a historic moment for Israel as they won their first medal in swimming and second medal in any event at the World Aquatics Championships.
A shower of boos during an interview from the deck of the Aspire Dome overshadowed the final stages of the championship, when Golbenko said, “I’m happy to represent Israel.”
Swimswam’s Aglaia Pezzato, who was attending the meeting, said the assembled media was told that Gorbenko had finished his duties on deck and was walking through the interview area, but no one saw him. said. They now await the expected tension at her medal ceremony, but her medal ceremony would have been even more intense if she had won the gold medal and World Swimming, which meant singing the Israeli national anthem. Dew.
update:
After the race, Golbenko was announced as the silver medalist to a mix of boos and cheers. The boos weren’t as loud as during the interview. The boos did not escalate further until she was announced in English. No boos were heard during her presentation in Arabic.
The television broadcast sounded like nothing but cheers. It is unclear whether applause was added to the broadcast or whether the boos were simply not captured by television cameras.
Extra security was in place for the medal ceremony and Victory Walk, and spectators were not allowed to descend as usual.
Before that, the only signs of conflict were fairly subtle, if you knew where to listen. According to Israeli media, there were claims that the Arabic announcer did not say Daria Golovati’s name or country during the 200 backstroke strike, but the English announcer did. Swimswam could not find any video of the race to confirm this report, but initially said Golovati’s name and country were not read at all.
There were also social media exchanges with Israeli open water swimmers. Eden Giroanta, previously trained at Southern Illinois University, USA. Gilroanta took exception to how some Arabic media described her and her performance, but those posts were Instagram Stories, meaning they have already expired.
The current conflict between Israel and Qatar centers on Qatar providing diplomatic office space in Doha to Hamas, the group that sent armed groups into southern Israel on October 7, killing around 1,200 Israelis. It is being expanded to. The deal was brokered by the United States and has been criticized by the Israeli government. Doha became a venue for negotiations early in the war, leading to the release of many, but not all, Israeli hostages.
Israel sent a small team of three pool swimmers to the world championships. Besides Golbenko and Golovati, Denis Loktev also participated. Qatar fielded five athletes after the World Aquatics Administration granted additional spots to those who did not qualify.
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