Tom Reuveny stars as Israel wins 2 medals in new windsurfing class at Paris Olympics

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Tom Reuveny of Israel, center, and coach Gal Fridman, left, celebrate after winning a men’s iQFOiL windsurfing gold medal during the 2024 Summer Olympics, Saturday, Aug. 3, 2024, in Marseille, France. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

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Marta Maggetti of Italy celebrates her gold medal win in the women’s iQFOiL windsurfing class during the 2024 Summer Olympics, Saturday, Aug. 3, 2024, in Marseille, France. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

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Marta Maggetti of Italy celebrates as she crosses the finish line of the final race ahead of Sharon Kantor of Israel to win the women’s iQFOiL windsurfing class gold medal during the 2024 Summer Olympics, Saturday, Aug. 3, 2024, in Marseille, France. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

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Emma Wilson of Britain, left, and Marta Maggetti of Italy, celebrate after the women’s iQFOiL windsurfing class final race in the 2024 Summer Olympics, Saturday, Aug. 3, 2024, in Marseille, France. Wilson won bronze and Maggetti won gold. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

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Luuc van Opzeeland, of the Netherlands, looks on after participating in a men’s iQFOiL windsurfing class race during the 2024 Summer Olympics, Saturday, Aug. 3, 2024, in Marseille, France. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

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Luuc van Opzeeland, of the Netherlands, right, participates in a men’s iQFOiL windsurfing class race during the 2024 Summer Olympics, Saturday, Aug. 3, 2024, in Marseille, France. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

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Tom Reuveny of Israel jumps from his iQFOiL windsurfer after finishing first in the final race to win the men’s iQFOiL windsurfing class gold medal during the 2024 Summer Olympics, Saturday, Aug. 3, 2024, in Marseille, France. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

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Tom Reuveny of Israel jumps from his iQFOiL windsurfer after finishing first in the final race to win the men’s iQFOiL windsurfing class gold medal ahead of Grae Morris of Australia and Luuc van Opzeeland of the Netherlands during the 2024 Summer Olympics, Saturday, Aug. 3, 2024, in Marseille, France. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

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Luuc van Opzeeland, of the Netherlands, participates in a men’s iQFOiL windsurfing class race during the 2024 Summer Olympics, Saturday, Aug. 3, 2024, in Marseille, France. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

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Sam Sills, of Britain, right, talks to a race official after participating in a men’s iQFOiL windsurfing class race during the 2024 Summer Olympics, Saturday, Aug. 3, 2024, in Marseille, France. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

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Luuc van Opzeeland, of the Netherlands, wipes out after participating in a men’s iQFOiL windsurfing class race during the 2024 Summer Olympics, Saturday, Aug. 3, 2024, in Marseille, France. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

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Zheng Yan, of China, participates in a women’s iQFOiL windsurfing class race during the 2024 Summer Olympics, Saturday, Aug. 3, 2024, in Marseille, France. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

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Zheng Yan, of China, participates in a women’s iQFOiL windsurfing class race during the 2024 Summer Olympics, Saturday, Aug. 3, 2024, in Marseille, France. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

By GIOVANNA DELL’ORTO

MARSEILLE, France (AP) — Israel earned two sailing medals Saturday when Tom Reuveny won gold and Sharon Kantor took home a silver in a new windsurfing class called iQFOiL on Saturday at the Paris Olympics.

Reuveny, 24, and Kantor, 21, added to a long tradition of windsurfing success for their country. Reuveny was coached by Israel’s first gold medalist, Gal Fridman, also a windsurfing champion. The big day in Marseille comes amid the Israel-Hamas war.

“It’s exactly 20 years since (Fridman won) his gold medal and it’s the first Olympics for him as a coach, and first Olympics for me,” a beaming Reuveny said. “So many people died in the last year in Israel, and not just in Israel. I’ve lost a few friends. It’s been dark times and I don’t think it could be any better than this, to hear the anthem on the top of the podium.”

Marta Maggetti, 28, of Italy won gold in the women’s race, and Britain’s Emma Wilson finished third. Grae Morris earned silver in the men’s race, and Luuc van Opzeeland got bronze.

Fridman said the key to Reuveny’s win was his confidence and keeping his cool in changing wind conditions, which have affected the first week of Olympic sailing, even leading to abandoning a windsurfing marathon more than an hour in.

“It’s a mental game,” Fridman said.

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The 20-year-old Morris celebrated Australia’s first windsurfing medal since 1992 — and what he called “an epic race” — with cheering fans holding inflatable yellow kangaroos at the beach. The 25-year-old van Opzeeland earned the Netherlands’ second sailing medal in as many days.

Maggetti had to rally for her victory. Wilson, 25, was left sobbing after entering the day ranked first and leading well into the final race.

“I just made a mistake,” said Wilson, who won a bronze in Tokyo and is the daughter of a two-time windsurfing Olympian. “It really hurts.”

Maggetti said the winning move was deciding to take a shorter course by turning before Kantor and Wilson around the upwind mark.

“I’ve been calm all day, taking it step by step,” Maggetti said. “I was able to reason it out. I’m super happy.”

In iQFOiL windsurfing, the sailors fly off the water pushing speeds well above 20 knots (37 kph or 23 mph), the boards lifted by a foil in regattas that last only about 10 minutes.

Olympic sailing regattas in Marseille started on Sunday. They have been plagued by high heat and fickle winds, which forced the first medal races in the men’s and women’s skiffs to be postponed to Friday.

The windsurfing quarterfinals, semifinals and medal races were all pushed to Saturday.

Only two athletes were guaranteed a medal at the beginning of the day because of their ranking after days of sailing — Wilson and Morris. The remaining top nine faced off this way: The athletes ranked four through 10 faced off in a quarterfinal, with the top two advancing to a semifinal against the competitors who began the day in second and third place. The top two finishers in the semi moved on to meet Morris and Wilson.

China’s Zheng Yan and Peru’s Mara Bazo advanced in the first quarterfinal to take on Kantor and Maggetti. Kantor and Maggetti then made it to the final.

Van Opzeeland and Britain’s Sam Sills advanced to the semifinal to face Reuveny and New Zealand’s Josh Armit, with van Opzelaand and Reuveny going into the men’s final.

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AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/2024-paris-olympic-games

Olympic Hightlights

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FILE - South Africa’s Jacques Freitag competes in the men’s high jump of the 2004 Olympic Games, in the Olympic Stadium in Athens, Friday Aug. 20, 2004. Local media is reporting that South African police have discovered the body of former high jump world champion Jacques Freitag after he went missing last month. The reports said the 42-year-old, who won the 2003 world title in Paris and competed at the 2004 Olympics, had been shot. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip, File)

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USA Water Polo Women’s Senior National Team attacker Ryann Neushul, left, trains at Long Beach City College Thursday, Jan. 18, 2024, in Long Beach, Calif. Following in the footsteps of two older sisters who won gold with the U.S. women’s water polo team, Ryann Neushul is making her Olympic debut in Paris this summer. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

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Iranian wrestler Iman Mahdavi, 28, practices at the Lotta Club Seggiano gym, in Pioltello , northern Italy, Wednesday, Feb. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

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