Lihi Raz wins first Israeli medal at 2020 European Women’s Gymnastics

Raz secured her place for the 2021 Tokyo Olympic Games.

Israeli Gymnast Lihi Raz (photo credit: Courtesy)
Israeli Gymnast Lihi Raz
(photo credit: Courtesy)

US-born Israeli artistic gymnast Lihi Raz made history on Sunday when she won the bronze medal on the floor during the 33rd European Championship in Women’s Artistic Gymnastics held in Turkey.

This is the first time an Israeli gymnast attained such a feat.

The 17-year-old gymnast secured her spot in the 2021 Israeli delegation to the Tokyo Olympic Games. The silver was won by Turkish gymnast Goksu Sanli and the gold by Romanian gymnast Larisa Iordache. 

The bronze arrives on the heels of a recent Israeli achievement, taking the gold at the European Championship group all-around held in Ukraine last month. 

The team included Ofir Dayan, Yana Kramaranko, Yuliana Tilgin, Shai Ben Ruby, Bar Shpushnikov and Karin Waxman. 

Israel's win was expected, as some of Europe's most prominent teams, such as Russia, Belarus, Italy, and Spain, were absent as they decided not to join the competition out of coronavirus concerns.