A lost star

Israeli judoka Alice Schlesinger is likely to represent the UK at the Rio Olympics, after sparring with the IJA.

By ALLON SINAI
The Israeli judoka Alice Schlesinger hoists her coach and fiancé Pavel Mosin. (photo credit: COURTESY IJA)
The Israeli judoka Alice Schlesinger hoists her coach and fiancé Pavel Mosin.
(photo credit: COURTESY IJA)
It is August 2016. The final of the women’s judo under-63-kilogram competition at the Carioca Arena in the Barra Olympic Park in Rio de Janeiro is about to get under way.
In one corner, representing Israel, is Yarden Gerbi. Standing across the mat, representing Britain, is Israeli Alice Schlesinger.
As crazy as that scene may sound, it moved significantly closer to becoming a reality earlier this week.
After almost two years of not taking part in a professional judo competition, Schlesinger won the gold medal at the British Championships in the English Institute of Sport in Sheffield on Sunday.
All that stands between Schlesinger, who holds a British passport courtesy of her English-born mother, and representing the UK on a full-time basis is a stamp of approval from the International Judo Federation.
That is expected to arrive before too long, meaning Schlesinger’s judo career is finally about to get back on track.
“I was nervous in my first fights, returning to the judo mat after two years,” said Schlesinger, who triumphed in Sheffield exactly 600 days before the opening ceremony of the Rio 2016 Olympics. “I eventually felt more comfortable. I thought to myself that this is where I belong, and overcame the pressure.
“This is a different country, and it is different,” she added. “Israel is in my heart and I’m happy.”
Explaining the shambolic situation that evolved between Schlesinger and the Israel Judo Association (IJA), which ultimately led to the Jewish state losing one of its brightest Olympic hopes, is far from straightforward.
It is probably best to begin with the indisputable facts. Schlesinger has rightfully earned a reputation as being one of Israel’s top Olympic athletes in recent years, winning medals at world and European championships and representing the country at the past two Olympic Games.
However, since London 2012 and until Sunday, Schlesinger had taken part in just one competition.
So, what happened? Well, that depends on whom you choose to believe; each side seemingly has its own version of everything that has taken place since the end of the London Games.
It all began a few days after the Olympics, in a fateful meeting between Schlesinger and IJA chairman Moshe Ponti.
There are many versions of what actually happened in the room. Schlesinger claimed Ponti told her that no matter what she achieves, he will make sure she doesn’t take part in the Rio 2016 Olympics – something the IJA vehemently denied.
Schlesinger said she was ordered to put on weight so she could move up to the under-70-kg. weight class in order to make way for Gerbi in the under-63-kg.
event, an allegation the IJA described as a lie.
Each country is only allowed to send a single judoka in each weight class to the Olympics, unlike world and European championships, when it can send two.
Following a disappointing showing by the five Israeli judokas in London, where Schlesinger reached the quarter-finals but won just one fight, the IJA decided to revolutionize the way its athletes train.
Rather than each judoka training mainly with their personal coach, the IJA adopted a team-orientated format in which the athletes spend far more time training together under a joint head coach and his staff.
That increased the tension between Schlesinger and the IJA, to what eventually became a hopelessly high level – as the decision had consequences on lifelong sporting ambitions, internal politics and love.
Schlesinger has been coached by Pavel Mosin since she was a teenager; the two also became romantically involved several years ago, announcing their engagement in 2008.
Thus it is little surprise that the IJA’s decision to slash the salary of Mosin and demand that Schlesinger conduct most of her training with the new head coach of the women’s national team, Shany Hershko – who, coincidentally or not, is also Gerbi’s personal coach – was received with such outrage by Alice and her partner.
With both sides sticking to their guns and no mediator managing to defuse the situation, Schlesinger, who also sat out the past two world championships in which Gerbi claimed gold and silver medals, appealed to the IJA last September to allow her to represent another country.
In a letter to Culture and Sport Minister Limor Livnat, she said that “the IJA has decided it no longer has any use for me, and has already determined who is going to represent it in Rio 2016.”
With the IJA refusing to grant Alice her wish, claiming it would only consider releasing her should another country request it (while Schlesinger insisted that other countries were interested in her services, but only if she first procured a release), she turned to the District Court, demanding it order the IJA to set her free.
Schlesinger called a press conference on the same day, to declare she would never again represent Israel in a judo competition.
“Ponti did everything he could to make me retire, but I won’t give up,” she said, her voice cracking. “I’m fighting for my life and my dream, and that is why I appealed to the court to force Ponti to release me – so I can realize my dream, and succeed where he thought I wouldn’t succeed.
“I fought to represent Israel,” she added, her eyes welling up. “That was the most important thing for me. But once I understood that it wasn’t going to happen, I decided I must move on with my life.”
After finally being allowed to leave and represent another country by local sports authorities earlier this year, she made a surprise and triumphant return to the judo mat earlier this week – and is on course to become a top recruit for British judo.
While she was waiting for her judo future to unfold, Schlesinger showed she can excel in more than one sport, winning the gold medal at the non-Olympic martial-art World Sambo Championships for a second straight time just last month. She stood on the top of the podium and was clearly emotional when “Hatikva” played in the background in Narita, Japan.
Sadly for Israeli sports, that seems unlikely to ever happen again.


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