Israel's delegation to the 2008 Beijing Olympics won't be remembered as one of the country's best, but if it wasn't for one scrawny 22-year-old it would have gone down in history as one of its worst. Shahar Zubari extended to five Israel's streak of Olympics with at least one medal won, saving the blushes of many of his countrymen by finishing third in the windsurfing competition in Qingdao three weeks ago. Zubari had long been regarded as the future of Israeli windsurfing, but he was never even supposed to take part in the competition in China, not to mention win a medal. Athens 2004 gold medalist Gal Fridman had set his sights on defending his title in Beijing and it initially only seemed to be a formality before he booked his place at the Games. Enter Zubari. Even as a teenager, the Eilat-born surfer was confident almost to a fault, believing that he could challenge the reigning Olympic champion and deny the national hero his chance to compete in Beijing. It would, however, soon be apparent that his self-belief is well founded as he finished ahead of Fridman in target competitions time and again and cemented his Olympic berth by winning the bronze medal at this year's World Championships. Still, the Olympics are so much bigger than any other event and the Beijing Games were supposed to be first and foremost a learning experience for Zubari. Winning the first race in Qingdao, however, revealed Zubari's potential and intentions in the Olympic competition and proved once and for all that his conviction in his ability is not cockiness but simply self-awareness. "My self-confidence stemmed from the fact that I deal with pressure well and that I wasn't nervous before the Olympics," he told The Jerusalem Post this week. "From day one I said that I will do my best and if my best is only good enough for fifth position so be it. "I got the competition off to a good start and I saw that I was surfing at a level good enough to win a medal, so I wasn't shy about speaking about it. I never guaranteed that I would win a medal, but I felt that I was surfing well and knew that if I would do my job than it was possible to claim a medal." Zubari entered the final race of the Games in fourth position, but he never had any doubt that he could end the day on the podium. "I was quite optimistic. I knew the situation in the standings and understood that there was a reasonable chance one of my opponents would mess up," he said. "I told myself that I will not be the one to mess up. I entered the medal race with a lot to gain and very little to lose." Zubari has been showered with compliments and ceremonies since he won the bronze medal and he's enjoying every moment of it. "Winning a medal is a very special achievement, especially when you're from Israel, which has so few medalists," he said. "The support I received and continue to receive is very heartwarming and it makes you feel very proud. "I was surprised by everybody's sudden interest in me. People came up to me in the street to tell me they saw the races and congratulated me. You feel that people really followed your progress and that's very satisfying." Windsurfing, and for that matter also most other Olympics sports, don't receive that much attention during non-Olympic years, but Zubari is quite happy with the reality of soccer and basketball dominating the headlines. "I'm not that upset with the fact that the interest in me is already waning. I like the quiet life of being a surfer," he said. Zubari may like the quiet life, but last week he made quite a bit of noise, causing a controversy by describing the Chinese people as "sh*ts" in an interview with Yediot Aharonoth. The Chinese embassy in Tel Aviv cancelled a celebratory reception for the Israeli Olympic delegation, which was scheduled to be held on Wednesday, in protest against Zubari's comments. "It's important to me to be open with the press because I see this as an integral part of being a successful athlete," he told the Post. He was, however, unwilling to comment on the storm, perhaps learning his lesson from his poor lack of judgment a few days earlier. Zubari is already back in training and can't wait to add to his already impressive collection of medals. "Next year the European Championships will be held in Tel Aviv and that's my next goal. There are four World Championships before the next Olympics and that's a title any surfer wants to win," he said. "All in all I'm surfing at a pretty good level so I just need to continue to work hard and to build on my consistent improvement in the last couple of years. I'm very determined to succeed."
