The team from Israel had an incredibly successful Maccabiah Games this year, winning a total of eight gold medals in the senior and junior competitions.

Ofir Kremer, a member of last year’s European Championships team and expected to compete at worlds this year, won the senior title with a 49.050 for an excellent competition that included a tsuk layout vault, a hit bars set, a clean beam routine that featured a layout series, punch front, and front full dismount, and a lovely floor set with good landings on her double pike, double tuck, and front full.

In addition to her all-around medal, Kremer also won the silver on bars, though unfortunately a fall on beam in the event final put her in sixth there.

Shailee Weiss placed fourth all-around with a 46.750 followed by Gaya Giladi in fifth with a 46.717, Ofir Netzer in eighth with a 45.167, and Tzuf Feldon in 12th with a 42.867.

Weiss won the gold medal on floor, where she earned an 11.975 for a routine that included a double tuck, Rudi, 1½ to front half, and double pike. Her tumbling looked great, and she showed potential as someone who could contribute good numbers here for Israel in the future. Weiss, who trains in Florida, also made the bars final, placing sixth with a messy but hit routine that earned a 10.125.

Normally a strong vaulter and floor worker, Giladi didn’t make the floor final here, but ended up winning the vault silver and the beam gold for an incredibly successful event finals. On vault, she averaged a 13.075 after hitting a Yurchenko full and a handspring front tuck half, while on beam, she performed a punch front, solid layout series, side somi, and a 1½ dismount for a 12.375, showing great power on her acro skills, though her leaps definitely led to a few deductions.

Netzer and Feldon both had rough bars sets in prelims, with Netzer also struggling on beam while Feldon had issues on both beam and floor. Feldon ended up not making any individual finals, but Netzer made an appearance on both vault and floor, winning the vault title with a 13.438 average for her handspring front tuck half and her tucked tsuk full, while her floor performance earned an 11.3 after taking her 2½ to punch front out-of-bounds, though the rest of her landings were okay, putting her in fifth.

Yael Ganon of Mexico was the silver all-around medalist in the senior division with a 48.183, showing her most impressive work on vault and floor, while U.S. gymnast Veronica Binstock, a level 10 from Docksiders Gymnastics who placed 11th at J.O. nationals this spring, won the bronze with a 47.283.

There was more success for the U.S. in event finals, as Binstock won the silver on beam and the bronze on vault and floor, while her teammate Evelyn Micco, a level 10 from Arizona Sunrays who was ninth at J.O. nationals in 2017, won the bars gold with an 11.025, showing lovely and clean work on her Jaeger, bail, and front layout half dismount.

Ganon showed lovely and promising work on beam to win the bronze there, while Zoe Harris of Great Britain was also notable at this meet for winning the bronze medals on bars and the silver on floor.

In the junior competition, Andy Turiski won the all-around title with a 46.750 while her teammate Meitar Lavy won the bronze with a 44.550. Both Turiski and Lavy will reach the senior level next year, and should add some much-needed depth to the program.

In addition to Israel’s all-around wins, Turiski won the gold medals on bars and beam as well as the silver medals on vault and floor, while Emilia Babich, fifth all-around, won the vault bronze, Lihi Lamesh, seventh all-around, won the bars silver, and Lihie Raz, ninth all-around, won the gold on floor.

The U.S. also had some success in the junior field, with Omer Danenberg-Lerner, a level 9 who trains at Metroplex, getting the silver medal with a 45.300, while also placing fifth on vault and beam. Moorea Linker, a level 10 at La Fleur’s, won vault gold and placed fourth on floor, Hana Strause, a level 9 at San Mateo, tied for bronze on bars, Madison Kirsch, a level 10 at Arizona Sunrays, won bronze on beam, Jessica Eig, a level 10 at Hill’s, won bronze on floor and placed sixth all-around, and Kaya Haymann, a level 8 at WOGA, was fifth on bars.

Naiara Rosenberg of Argentina placed fourth all-around a few tenths behind the bronze medal position, making all four event finals to win the silver on beam in addition to placing fourth on vault, fifth on floor, and sixth on bars. Her teammate Camila Lukacher, who competed all events but floor in prelims, tied for the bronze on beam.

Full results from the competition are available here.

Article by Lauren Hopkins