Israeli women’s gymnastics has had some bad luck in the past month. First, Ofir Netzer, who placed 4th at the vault final at the European Games and was very likely to qualify to the Tokyo Olympics, tore her ACL at the Israeli Championships in August. Then, Gaya Giladi, a team veteran, had an unfortunate landing on vault during the qualifications at Worlds and had to withdraw from the rest of the competition.
Lihie Raz, a first-year senior who won the Israeli Championships in August, was able to step up and deliver a score that should be enough to qualify her to the Olympics once the unused spots from the event finals will be released back to the all-around pool.
Raz said she was the happiest with how she did on floor, where she added a big upgrade:
“Maybe, floor felt the best because I added a new element, a full in, and I was happy that I did it successfully. My goal was really to come and to do what I can, what I do in training. To qualify to the Olympics is always somewhere in the back of your head, but I mostly just wanted to do my best here.”
Raz is training some big upgrades on all four events and hopes to do either a 1.5 twisting Yurchenko or even a double. She does elite gymnastics while attending a regular high school:
“I’m attending a regular high school but the school really supports me in my gymnastics, they give me an opportunity to make up everything I miss. Everyone supported me and wished me a lot of success at this competition.”
In 2016, Israeli women were unable to qualify to the Olympics as two top gymnasts, Ofir Netzer and Tsuf Feldon, got injured before Worlds. If Raz goes to Tokyo, it will be a big achievement for the program.
However, it is not clear whether the Israeli Olympic Committee will allow Raz to go to the Olympics as they have their own qualification rules. For example, in 2008, Vered Finkel qualified to the Beijing Olympics but was not allowed to go by the Israeli Olympic Committee. Her coach even sued the committee to overturn the decision but lost the case.
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