The Most Famous

ATHLETES from Israel

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This page contains a list of the greatest Israeli Athletes. The pantheon dataset contains 6,025 Athletes, 3 of which were born in Israel. This makes Israel the birth place of the 100th most number of Athletes behind Namibia, and Saudi Arabia.

Top 10

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the top 10 most legendary Israeli Athletes of all time. This list of famous Israeli Athletes is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity. Visit the rankings page to view the entire list of Israeli Athletes.

Photo of Gal Fridman

1. Gal Fridman (b. 1975)

With an HPI of 37.01, Gal Fridman is the most famous Israeli Athlete.  His biography has been translated into 21 different languages on wikipedia.

Gal Fridman (or Friedman, Hebrew: גל פרידמן; born September 16, 1975) is an Israeli windsurfer and Israel's first Olympic gold medalist. Fridman won a Bronze Medal in the Atlanta 1996 Summer Olympics, and a gold medal in the Athens 2004 Summer Olympics. He is the first of two Israelis athletes to win two Olympic Medals, and the first 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.

Photo of Shahar Tzuberi

2. Shahar Tzuberi (b. 1986)

With an HPI of 28.87, Shahar Tzuberi is the 2nd most famous Israeli Athlete.  His biography has been translated into 16 different languages.

Shahar Tzuberi (or Zubari, Hebrew: שחר צוברי; born 1 September 1986) is an Israeli windsurfer and Olympic bronze medalist, surfing in the "Neil Pryde" RS:X discipline. He is a nephew of Gad Tsobari, the 1972 Olympic wrestler who escaped from Arab terrorists during the Munich massacre. He is a three-time Olympian.

Photo of Shira Rishony

3. Shira Rishony (b. 1991)

With an HPI of 23.54, Shira Rishony is the 3rd most famous Israeli Athlete.  Her biography has been translated into 16 different languages.

Shira Rishony (Hebrew: שירה ראשוני, born 21 February 1991) is an Israeli Olympic lightweight judoka. She competes at U48 kg (under 106 pounds). She competed for Israel at the 2016 Summer Olympics. At the 2020 Tokyo Olympics she won a bronze medal in the mixed team event, and placed 5th in the women's 48 kg event. She won a bronze medal at the 2022 European Championship. Rishony represented Israel at the 2024 Paris Olympics in judo; in the women's 48 kg she came in 17th, and in the mixed team event Team Israel came in ninth.

Photo of Avishag Semberg

4. Avishag Semberg (b. 2001)

With an HPI of 22.91, Avishag Semberg is the 4th most famous Israeli Athlete.  Her biography has been translated into 19 different languages.

Avishag Semberg (or Abishag Samberg, Hebrew: אבישג סמברג; born (2001-09-16)16 September 2001) is an Israeli Olympic taekwondo athlete. She is an Olympic bronze medalist for Israel at the 2020 Summer Olympics in the women's 49 kg competition. She won Israel's all-time tenth Olympic medal, and is the youngest Israeli to receive an Olympic medal, at the age of 19. Semberg represented Israel at the 2024 Paris Olympics in the women's taekwondo -49 kg category. Saudi athlete Dunya Abutaleb defeated Semberg in the first round.

Photo of Baruch Shmailov

5. Baruch Shmailov (b. 1994)

With an HPI of 21.80, Baruch Shmailov is the 5th most famous Israeli Athlete.  His biography has been translated into 15 different languages.

Baruch Shmailov (Hebrew: ברוך שמאילוב; born 2 September 1994) is an Israeli Olympic judoka. He competes in the under 66 kg weight category, and won a gold medal in the 2022 World Masters in Jerusalem. Shmailov also won a bronze in the 2017 World Masters, as well as a silver at the 2018 World Masters. He competed for Israel at the 2020 Summer Olympics, finishing in fifth place in the individual competition and winning a bronze medal in the mixed team. He has reached a high world ranking of third in 2019, 2022, and 2024. Shmailov represented Israel at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris in judo in the men's 66 kg event (where he beat Morocco’s Abderrahmane Boushita in his first match, lost to Tajikistan’s Nurali Emomali in his round of 16 match, and came in 9th), and in the mixed team event in which Team Israel came in ninth.

Photo of Shelly Bobritsky

6. Shelly Bobritsky (b. 2001)

With an HPI of 0.00, Shelly Bobritsky is the 6th most famous Israeli Athlete.  Her biography has been translated into different languages.

Shelly Bobritsky (שלי בובריצקי; born 27 June 2001) is an Israeli Olympic swimmer who competes in Artistic swimming. She competed in the 2020 Olympics in duet, was the European Champion in the free combination event in 2023, and was a three-time European medalist as well as a two-time European Cup bronze medalist. Bobritsky represented Israel at the 2024 Paris Olympics in artistic swimming women's duet with Ariel Nassee, and the pair came in 11th.

Photo of Anat Lelior

7. Anat Lelior (b. 2000)

With an HPI of 0.00, Anat Lelior is the 7th most famous Israeli Athlete.  Her biography has been translated into different languages.

Anat Lelior (Hebrew: ענת ליליאור; born April 29, 2000) is an Israeli Olympic surfer. She represented Israel at the 2020 Summer Olympics, and finished 17th in the shortboard. Lelior represented Israel at the 2024 Paris Olympics in surfing in Women's shortboard, in Teahupo'o reef pass, Tahiti, French Polynesia, and came in ninth.

Photo of Zhang Ling

8. Zhang Ling (b. )

With an HPI of 0.00, Zhang Ling is the 8th most famous Israeli Athlete.  Their biography has been translated into different languages.

Zhang Ling may refer to: Zhang Daoling (34–156), Eastern Han dynasty Taoist hermit Zhang Ling (author) (born 1957), Chinese audiologist and fiction writer based in Canada Zhang Ling (runner) (born 1981), Chinese middle-distance runner Zhang Ling (tennis) (born 1989), Chinese tennis player representing Hong Kong Zhang Ling (gymnast) (born 1992), Chinese rhythmic gymnast Zhang Ling (rower) (born 1997), Chinese rower

Photo of Alexander Bachmann

9. Alexander Bachmann (b. 1994)

With an HPI of 0.00, Alexander Bachmann is the 9th most famous Israeli Athlete.  His biography has been translated into different languages.

Alexander Bachmann (born 17 July 1994) is a German taekwondo athlete. He won the gold medal at the 2017 World Taekwondo Championships on the Men's middleweight category.

Photo of Daniel Roberts

10. Daniel Roberts (b. )

With an HPI of 0.00, Daniel Roberts is the 10th most famous Israeli Athlete.  Their biography has been translated into different languages.

Daniel or Dan Roberts may refer to: Daniel Roberts (Royal Navy officer) (1789–1869) Daniel Foley Roberts (1834–1889), Queensland (Australia) politician Daniel Webster Roberts (1841–1935), Confederate soldier, and lawman with the Texas Rangers Dan Roberts (writer) (1912–1995), pseudonym of the Canadian writer W. E. D. Ross Dan Roberts (announcer) (born c. 1955), American public address announcer Dan Roberts (bassist) (born 1967), Canadian bassist Daniel Roberts (playwright) (born 1969), American playwright, editor and educator Daniel Roberts (fighter) (born 1980), American professional mixed martial arts fighter Daniel "Monkey Man" Roberts (born c. 1980), founder and owner of Pirate Cat Radio Dan Roberts (singer), American singer and songwriter Daniel Roberts (soccer) (born 1989), English-American professional soccer player Daniel Roberts (rugby union) (born 1992), South African professional rugby union player Daniel Roberts (hurdler) (born 1997), American hurdler

People

Pantheon has 36 people classified as Israeli athletes born between 1975 and 2002. Of these 36, 36 (100.00%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living Israeli athletes include Gal Fridman, Shahar Tzuberi, and Shira Rishony. As of April 2024, 33 new Israeli athletes have been added to Pantheon including Shira Rishony, Baruch Shmailov, and Shelly Bobritsky.

Living Israeli Athletes

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Newly Added Israeli Athletes (2024)

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