Israel’s Olympic windsurfing hopeful Lee Korzits readily admits to being a hyperactive thrill-seeker. Only on the water is she truly able to focus. “I can’t concentrate anywhere else, so it’s like a meditation place for me,” she says. “I learn to be quiet - really quiet. I listen to the sea, and the sound of the waves is like a mantra.”

The 27-year-old Israeli became the youngest windsurfing world champion in 2003. In September, she earned the silver medal at the RS:X European Windsurfing Championships in Bulgaria and on December 11 Korzits captured the gold medal at the Women’s RS:X World Championship in Australia, in the second of four qualifying rounds for next summer’s London Olympics.

“Windsurfing for me is everything,” says Korzits. The challenging sport combines elements of sailing and surfing with gymnastic jumps, loops and spins.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=YJku4TrqWnA

The daughter of a swimmer and a lifeguard, she was raised in the beach town of Michmoret, between Tel Aviv and Haifa, along with sister Bar and brother Tom. Her siblings also are windsurfers of note, and Tom was her first coach. Nearly every child in Michmoret learns to windsurf, says Korzits, who still lives near her childhood home. “I grew up in a place where everybody went to the [Emek Hefer Sailing] club together as kids, and the good ones stayed. A lot of good athletes come from this village of mine.”

An Israeli Olympic sport

Korzits follows in the footsteps of Gal Fridman, an Israeli windsurfer who won a bronze medal at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics and captured the gold at the 2004 Athens Olympics.

There was one point in her career when it seemed like she’d had enough. In 2006, following a board-surfing injury, Korzits had a well-publicized run-in with the national team consultant and quit competing for a couple of years. But she came back with a deeper love for her sport. Korzits took on a new coach last year - a childhood friend who knows her well - and she’s in the water three hours a day. She does lung-strengthening activities such as biking and swimming for another six hours, taking just one day per week to cut back a bit.

“It’s all about getting to the Olympics,” she says. “That’s the dream and we work very hard for it from the time we are young.”

She doesn’t consider her training regimen a burden, even though her schedule leaves little time for a social life. “I cannot rest if there are good waves,” she says. “I want to be in the water.”

Risk-taker

Korzits may specialize in windsurfing but she also enjoys sunboarding and other extreme water sports. “I look for the danger. I like risks,” she admits.

In her many travels around the world - six different countries this year alone - she sometimes faces risks of a different sort, as a living symbol of Israel. “You kind of get used to it, from traveling the world,” says Korzits. “I try to stay in a bubble. But I feel proud that I was born here and I live here. I know I’m Jewish and I love representing Israel. When you hear the national anthem that’s playing just because of you, it’s a feeling you cannot imagine.”

She says that during the qualifiers in Bulgaria, one of the best aspects of finishing in second place was seeing the Israeli flag posted on the results board. When the athletes came ashore in Australia, Korzits draped her flag around her shoulders and said she was ecstatic to win gold for her country.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=kZ6ZoKOiO7I

Korzits writes songs, and has broad interests despite never finishing high school (she took equivalency exams for her diploma). “I’m not a person who likes studying, but I like to know stuff.”

After her competitive days are over, she plans to stay close to shore. “I would like to teach windsurfing, to show kids what the sport can give them. In the sea, they have to handle something stronger than themselves. I want to give the power I got from nature to other people.”

Like

Unlike

Related posts:

1. Israeli World Champ Takes a Punch at Training N.Y Kids World Boxing Champion Yuri Foreman teamed up with the Israeli...
2. Champion in Giving- Israeli Champ Hits the Street With Turkeys More than 500 of these holiday birds were donated today...
3. “I Did It!!!”: Israel Wins Bronze in Beijing Photo: Wikimedia Commons It’s been a rocky ride for Shahar...

Bradley Chalupski, celebrating his win andholding a (frozen) piece of Israeli history

In 1980, at the Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, NY we witnessed the “Miracle on Ice” – the amazing win by a young U.S. hockey team over the feared Soviet squad. It is one of, if not the most celebrated underdog stories in modern sports history. Three decades later, we still believe in miracles. Israel, a country with about as much ice as there is in your freezer, is making a name for itself in the most unlikeliest of sports. When one thinks of Israel, they think Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, the Galilee, even the Negev desert – certainly not ideal training grounds for a serious winter sport. Naysayers be damned, Israel did it!  The Israel Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation just announced that with a 5th place finish in the weekend’s America’s Cup race in Lake Placid, NY, skeleton athlete Bradley Chalupski has earned Israel its first ever medal in Skeleton!

“It’s an incredible honor to win a medal for an entire nation.  I feel thankful, proud and amazing,” said Chalupski.

David Greaves, the Secretary-General of the Israeli Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation, had this to say: “As a former athlete member of the IBSF, my role now as volunteer is to help in any way that I can and to assist young Jewish athletes hoping to represent Israel in the sports of Bobsled and Skeleton.  If these great young athletes can take away even half the of what I got out of my experience as an athlete, then all our work with be well worth it.  News of Bradley’s first medal and our Federation’s first ever skeleton Medal will now sit alongside our bobsled medals and will help blaze a trail for other you athletes. Bradley and Israel and all Jewish sports enthusiasts should be proud, as I am. Mazal tov Brad.”

Mazel tov indeed!

Related posts:

1. “I Did It!!!”: Israel Wins Bronze in Beijing Photo: Wikimedia Commons It’s been a rocky ride for Shahar...
2. “Cool Facts about Israel – New & Update Version” G-D, we love this HOLLLLLYYY. Who is this girl anyway?...
3. Yuri Foreman- Rabbi to be Wins World Boxing Championship Yuri Foreman has just become the first Israeli boxing world...

On Monday evening, Israel’s parliament, the Knesset, passed a long-overdue ban on the act of “declawing” cats. Declawing involves the surgical removal of all claws of the cat, and they cannot grow back. Declawing is not only painful (it involves the cutting off of the cat’s last knuckles), but can adversely affects cats’ balance, agility, and of course, mobility. For stray cats or those that are later abandoned, it also leaves them defenseless.  As any pet owner can tell you, if you want your cat to avoid leaving big scratches on the furniture (or your arms), routine trimming of the nails is perfectly harmless and effective.

The bill outlines a few cases of “medical exception” in which declawing would be allowed, but generally speaking, not only is declawing banned, the penalties are nothing to scoff at. Violators may face up to 1 year in prison or a NIS 75,000 fine.

The legislation was backed by a wide coalition of political parties, sponsored by Knesset members Eitan Cabel of Labor, Yoel Hasson of Kadima, Dov Khenin of Hadash and Nitzan Horowitz of Meretz. Last week, the Knesset Education, Culture and Sports Committee voted unanimously to push the bill through, with the support of Israel’s Agriculture Ministry, which is also responsible for animal welfare.

Over the last few years, “declawing” has become a major advocacy campaign in the world of animal rights. The U.K. recently outlawed declawing as a part of the Animal Welfare Act of 2006. They are just part of a list of  a dozen European countries which have banned declawing, as well as Brazil and New Zealand. In the United States, California became the first state to ban declawing for wild and exotic cats in 2004, and in 2009, many municipalities such as San Francisco, Los Angeles and Berkeley banned declawing outright.

Thanks to Ynet for this story.

Related posts:

1. Gay Rights in Israel Israel today is one of the world’s most progressive countries...
2. Israel Approves Egg Donation Between Lesbian Couples If anyone needed proof of Israel's advancements on gay and...
3. With a Bark, Israeli Knesset Member Retires Kai is leaving the Knesset in the paws of his...

There are a myriad of ways to spend your days in Israel, from relaxing at the beach to hiking in the north, but there’s one thing you cant do: circle Mt. Everest and the other treacherous peaks of the Himalayas. Yes, we’re talking about paragliding, and considering the danger in launching yourself off a cliff to travel hundreds of kilometers, it’s definitely a sport. The highest point in Israel is the southern part of Mount Hermon at 2,224 meters (7,297 feet). Compared to Everest, which is four times as high, and Israel has some options for the extreme sport of paragliding, but its hardly the mecca. One young Israel has made a name for himself paragliding in the Himalayas. Last weekend, Itay Taskerman emerged as the winner of the 2011 International and Himalayan National Paragliding Championship.

Itay is a 26 year-old from Netanya, who works as a software engineer for HP when he’s grounded.

The 7-day race from mountain to mountain is kind of like the Tour d’Himalayas, replacing the Arc de Triomphe with one of the world’s most impressive natural formations. All told, 220 men and women competed in this year’s race, with participants from over a dozen nations. “Bir-Billing is like a paragliding mecca. Because India is very inexpensive, it is a place a lot of pilots from all over the world come and fly just for fun and also compete,” said Tasekrman. When asked about being the lone Israeli representative, Taskerman noted India’s strong relations with Israel, with both countries very active trade partners, saying, “They treated me very, very nicely….They know us and I got a very good reception from them.”

So, people leap from summit to summit with thousands of feet of air separating you from thousands of jagged peaks, what could possibly go wrong? Apparently, one of the most beautiful and majestic experiences of paragliding in the Himalayas is watching birds soar in the sky with you.

“Himalayan vultures, which are truly amazing and giant birds, really like to fly with us,” Takserman said. “They like to fly above the wing and in front of the wing and near the pilot and sometimes for a long time and they are very playful. Most of the time it’s a very harmless experience.”

Unfortunately, it’s not always a harmless experience. In an amazing video captured on a participant’s helmet-cam, one paraglider found himself in free fall after his parachute was struck by an incoming vulture. As you can see in the video below, the scenery is breathtaking, but the dangers are very real. Thankfully, both the paraglider and the bird survived the crash landing, and the individual on camera was kind enough to untangle the meddling bird and ensure its well being.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=N65ALqiBW_o

Related posts:

1. Don’t Ask, Dont’ Tell? Not in Israel From YNET today, an intersting piece on the Gays in...
2. A Home Run for Israel Last night (29 May), the New York Mets hosted a...
3. Making Israel Home Nothing makes the heart smile like witnessing the looks on...

Unfortunately, the clinic in Amman did not have the ability to save Tam-Tam, and his only hope would be to cross into Israel for treatment. Luckily, the Israeli clinic went the extra mile for this dog, sending someone to drive to the border to pick up Tam-Tam, as its owners had no time to spare, even if that meant sending their precious pooch far from home. After a CT scan at the Israeli clinic confirmed Tam-Tam’s condition, an emergency surgery lasting two hours proved successful, the Jordanian dog was able to slowly recover over the last few days and is now able to move its hind legs. A full recovery is expected over the next couple of weeks.

Said the doctor who performed the surgery, Dr. Uri Segal, “Tam-Tam was no different than any dog that comes to us for medical treatment, the only difference being that while most owners can come and visit the dog in the  hospital almost every day, his owners in Jordan received regular updates by e-mail us and on the phone.”

The extraordinary story ends back in Jordan, when Tam-Tam was reunited with his family after an eventful few days.

Thanks to Ynet for this story.

Related posts:

1. Jordanian and Israeli Paramedics Train Side by Side Ben-Gurion University of the Negev is home to a very...
2. Renowned Surgeons Help China Save Lives Photo: Getty Images Since its founding in 1995, Save a...
3. In Israel, Growing Tobacco to Save Lives Meeting a major unmet medical need, Israel's CollPlant uses tobacco...

Stepping off the plane to cheering fans, rambunctious chants, and banging drums, basketball stars Jordan Farmar and Jon Scheyer arrived at Ben Gurion Airport ready to play for Israeli champion, Maccabi Tel Aviv. Both Scheyer and Farmar acknowledged their long-time aspiration of donning the gold and blue and playing in front of adoring Israeli fans.

Farmar, currently of the New Jersey Nets, stated that he has been a longtime fan of Maccabi, first becoming interested in the team upon a visit to Israel with his family as a young child. “Jordan is one of the best and most exciting and I believe most special guards who have come to Israel for a long time. We’re thrilled to have him,” Maccabi coach David Blatt said. “The great part of the story is Jordan wanted to come and we wanted him. It was really a decision of the heart rather than a professional matter.”

Likewise, Scheyer acknowledged that his desire to play in Israel has been longstanding. The former Duke All-American has decided to make the move more than temporary, signing immigration documents and receiving his Israeli ID card upon arrival. Exiting a Nefesh B’Nefesh sponsored plane Scheyer noted, “I am really looking forward to starting my new life in Israel and playing for Maccabi Tel Aviv.” Following former Maccabi stars and current NBA greats, Anthony Parker and Omri Casspi, both Scheyer and Farmar look to solidify Israel’s reputation as the destination for elite international basketball.

For more information please visit ESPN and YNet News.

Photo courtesy of Minimalist Photography101 on flickr. Used under creative license 2.0 .

Related posts:

1. Maccabi Tel Aviv at Basketball Hall of Fame As we reported in an earlier post, the Basketball Hall...
2. Maccabi Practice for Knicks Showdown Ahead of tomorrow’s anticipated game between Maccabi Tel Aviv and...
3. The Winners of the Maccabi Knicks Quiz We're pleased to announce the winners of the Maccabi vs....

Q: First thank you for taking the time to sit down with isRealli today. Tell us a little about yourself!

Yulia: My name is Yulia Glushko, and I am a professional tennis player from Israel. Right now, I live in Modi’in, which is between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. I was actually born in Ukraine, and I moved to Israel when I was eight.

Q: When did you start playing tennis?

Yulia: I actually started before my family came to Israel, when I was four. Both of my parents are tennis instructors. So naturally, they coached me when I was little.

Q: What is the tennis culture like in Israel?

Yulia: In Israel, it’s a bit different than in the U.S. or Europe. There’s not a lot of people who go professional. It’s somewhat hard to go professional, as there are very few quality programs for adults. Sure, there’s lots of tennis schools for younger players, but to go professional, you’re really on your own. One of the biggest obstacles is that there aren’t many sponsorships. A lot of Israelis actually go to college in the States and play tennis there.

Q: What is it like as an Israeli playing in the U.S., especially New York with its high Jewish population?

Yulia: It’s great to have that support, and I felt that when I played for Fed Cup.

Q: Was this your first time in New York?

Yulia: No, I’ve been to new York many times.

Q: What have you been doing in New York? Catch any good meals?

Yulia: Well, because of the hurricane I was inside for 2 days, which was a little boring. I love New York and have spent a lot of time here, but I didn’t go out much this time as I needed to be in shape and prepared for the U.S. Open.

Q: Ok, so which has the better nightlife, New York or Tel Aviv?

Yulia: New York is very fast paced, I feel like I cant even walk slow here. It’s amazing to visit, but I don’t know if I can live here! They say New York is the city that never sleeps, it’s all night long, but Tel Aviv doesn’t sleep either. But its different, it’s on the beach, but there’s also bars and nightclubs. It’s not quite as intense as New York, I’d say Tel Aviv is like a mix of LA and New York.

Q: What are your plans for the rest of the 2011 season?

Yulia: Going home first to train, then off to Europe for a few weeks. I’m not sure exactly what tournaments I will be playing there, my coach and I need to figure that out when I get back. Then I have a tournament back home. We don’t have very many of those [in Israel] so it’s great to play at home. It’s been an amazing year, Ive been able to play in all of the grand slams. You can always do better, but I’m really proud.

Q: What are your goals for 2012?

Yulia: I grew up a lot in 2011, I want to keep working hard, improve my ranking. Working hard is the main thing for me, both mentally and physically. It’s not about specific benchmarks for me, but of course  if I break it through to top 100 that would be amazing.

Related posts:

1. Israeli-Arab Tennis Player at Duke a Model for Coexistance She has spent her life as a minority, but never...
2. Israeli Tennis Stars Gear Up for U.S. Open Just a few days before setting foot in Arthur Ashe...
3. Shahar Peer, Olympian and Tennis Star One of Israel’s biggest stars in this years Olympics is...

According to a new Israeli study, taking a dip in the Dead Sea may help diabetics lower their blood sugar levels. The team of researchers, led by Professor Shaul Sukenik from Ben Gurion University in the Negev believe that “In the event that the findings are confirmed in further studies, a drop in blood glucose levels will allow diabetics who bathe in the Dead Sea to use less medication.”

The experiment consisted of 14 individuals with Type 2 diabetes, and a control group of 6 healthy individuals.  Glucose levels dropped on average from 163 to 151 milligrams per decilitre (mg/dl), or 13.5 percent.

For those who stayed in the water even longer, for an hour, blood sugar levels dropped to 141.3 mg/dl. Interestingly, the control group showed no changes in blood sugar levels, suggesting that there is a serious link to be uncovered here.

The Dead Sea is one of the world’s most amazing treasures. And over the past year, an international competition has been going on to name the New 7 Wonders of the World. Here’s some fun facts brought to you by the site votedeadsea.com:

1. The Dead Sea is the second saltiest body of water in the world after Lake Assal in Djibouti, Africa.
2. The salt concentration in the Dead Sea is 33.7%, compared with the salt concentration in the Mediterranean Sea, which is between 3.5% and 3.9%.
3. The high salt content is what makes possible the unique floating experience enjoyed by bathers in the Dead Sea.

While the researchers are currently raising money to create a large-scale study to figure out just what it is about the Dead Sea that can aid diabetics. Their findings are going to be published in the Israel Medical Association’s journal, HaRefua

For now, make sure to go on over to new7wonders.com and vote for the Dead Sea!

Related posts:

1. A Potential Cure for Diabetes Photo: Getty Images For years, scientists have looked for good...
2. 2,000 Years Later, Dead Sea Scrolls Can be Google’d Five complete scrolls have been put online so far, all...
3. Dead Sea a Finalist in “Wonders of the World” Contest The Dead Sea has just become a candidate for one...

Israel kicked off the One Year to London 2012 countdown today with a special session at the Knesset in the presence of Knesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin, Sports and Culture Minister Limor Livnat and the British Embassy in Israel. Among the 300 guests were Israeli athletes, past, present and future, as well as Ministers and Members of Knesset.

In his speech to the session, British Ambassador to Israel Matthew Gould officially invited the Israeli delegation to participate in the London 2012 Games. He told the packed auditorium that “in every Olympic Games, the book of stories gets longer. In London, more stories will be written.”

At the ceremony, Israel Olympic Committee Chairman Zvi Varshaviak accepted the official invitation from the International Olympic Committee to participate in the Games. Sports Minister Limor Livnat announced that she had managed to secure extra funds for Israel’s Olympic efforts, with her ministry’s budget increasing from NIS 10 million to NIS 18 million. Knesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin highlighted the importance of ensuring that the proper resources were invested in Israel’s aspiring athletes from a young age.

Two Israeli athletes have already qualified for the 2012 Olympics. Swimmers Gal Nevo and Nimrod Shapira Bar-Or both qualified for the London games at the FINA World Championships in Shanghai this week with top performances in the 200 meter individual medley and 200 meter individual medley, respectively.

Read more about Israel’s One Year to London 2012 countdown on the British Embassy to Israel’s website.

Related posts:

1. President Pens Poem for Olympics Photo: Wikimedia Commons To honor the spirit of the Olympics,...
2. What’s the World’s 3rd Largest Sporting Event? We'll give you three hints. It draws more than 10,000...
3. Israeli Athletes Go for Gold in Beijing Photo:Getty Images In the midst of all the discussion of...

The Cleveland Cavaliers are continuing to rebuild after LeBron James left for Miami to join Chris Bosh and D-Wade in what was one of the most hyped championship runs of all time. The Cavs picked up Israeli player Omri Caspi in a trade with the Sacramento Kings. In addition to Caspi, the Cavaliers also acquired Sacramento’s first round draft pick in exchange for forward/center J.J. Hickson. Cleveland fans are hoping that with a good draft prospect, their team might be able to turn their franchise around. Cleveland has endured a depressing championship drought, with no major professional sports team capturing a title since the Cleveland Browns in 1964. While it may be far fetched, nothing would please a city more than seeing the Cavaliers capture a championship, especially after their public feud with LeBron.

Caspi is the first Israeli to ever play in the NBA, and during his first two seasons, he average just under 10 points per game. Not bad considering he only had about 24 minutes of time on the floor per game.

Said Cavaliers General Manager Chris Grant, “We’re excited to add a young, talented, tough-minded player like Omri, that we feel is a good fit for our team and can help improve our perimeter group, while also being able to obtain another important asset with the additional first round draft pick.” He went on to say Caspi’s “got a nastiness and fight about him” to which Omri replied laughing “Sometimes I play hard. And sometimes I might play too hard.”

Related posts:

1. Omri Casspi to Sacramento Kings’ in NBA Draft Omri Casspi, the 21-year-old small forward for Maccabi Tel Aviv,...
2. Taking Medical Clowning Seriously The University of Haifa has created a three-year “medical clowning”...
3. Taking Pride in Israel Photo: Getty Images Experiencing a vibrant gay and lesbian culture...