With no Israeli to win a medal yet, the veteran judoka will be under especially intense pressure.
By ALLON SINAI, BEIJINGzeevi 298.88(photo credit: Robert Vos/EPA)
All eyes will be on Arik Ze'evi on Thursday with the weight of expectation reaching unbearable levels ahead of his participation in the judo under-100 kilogram competition.
With no Israeli to win a medal yet, the veteran judoka will be under especially intense pressure.
The 31-year-old, who beat Dutchman Elco Van Der Geest to claim the bronze medal in Athens four years ago, faces former world champion and Olympic medalist Frederic Demontfaucon in the first round, and will have to get past the very best throughout the competition if he's to realize his golden dream.
Should he win his first round bout he will already have to fight the winner of the contest between Dutch world number one Henk Grol and Brazilian world champion Luciano Correa in the next round .
A three-time European champion, Ze'evi believes some 10 judokas have a good chance of winning a medal
In April he proved he'd recovered from a career threatening shoulder injury, winning a European bronze medal in Lisbon.
Also Thursday, Shahar Tzuberi will look to maintain first position in the windsurfing contest, with Ma'ayan Davidovich hoping to improve on her current 13th place overall.
Nofar Edelman will also be out in the sea once more, competing in the Laser Radiel contest, with Alon Mandel to also compete Thursday, swimming the 100 meters butterfly before leaving for Israel later in the evening to join his grieving family.
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