Fridman in action
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Native name | גל פרידמן | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Ethnicity | Jewish | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Born |
Karkur, Israel |
September 16, 1975 |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Height | 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Weight | 68 kg (150 lb) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Other interests | Cycling [1] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sport | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Country | Israel | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sport | Sailing | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Event(s) | Mistral | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Club | Sdot Yam | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Coached by | Mike Gebhardt | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Retired | 2008 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Achievements and titles | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Highest world ranking | 1st (Mistral, 2003) 25th (RS:X, 2007) |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Updated on August 8, 2012. |
Gal Fridman (Hebrew: גל פרידמן; born September 16, 1975) is an Israeli windsurfer and Israel's only Olympic Gold Medalist. Fridman won a Bronze Medal in the Atlanta 1996 Summer Olympics, and his Gold Medal in the Athens 2004 Summer Olympics. He is the only Israeli athlete to win two Olympic Medals, and the first (and only, thus far) Olympic Gold medalist in Israeli history. His first name, Gal, means "wave" in Hebrew.
He was born in Karkur, Israel, and lives close to the water in Sdot Yam, a nearby kibbutz.
Fridman is Jewish. The second out of three children, Fridman was born to Dganit and Uri Fridman, and has an older sister named Maayan and a younger brother named Yuval. Growing up close to the Mediterranean Sea, Gal was Introduced by his father to Windsurfing, Fridman started sailing at age 7, and began racing when he was 11. He began competing internationally in youth categories while still at school. After his service in the Israel Defense Forces he began competing as an adult.
In 1995, he won the ASA Boardsailing Championship in Eilat, Israel. In 1999, he won the International ASA Windsurfing Championship in Eilat. In 2002, he won the Mistral World Championship held in Pattaya, Thailand, and was ranked #1 on the International Sailing Federation rankings in February 2003.
At the 1996 Summer Olympics, Fridman won a Bronze Medal for Israel in the Olympic Sailing Windsurfing Event (Mistral Men's Windsurfing category), and was named Israeli Sportsman of the Year.