Shahar Zubari
Encyclopedia
Shahar Zubari is an Israel
i windsurfer and Olympic
bronze medalist, surfing in the "Neil Pryde" RS:X discipline. He was born in Eilat, Israel
.
His first achievement was a silver medal in the 2000 Windsurfing World Championships
for boys. With the Olympics in mind, Zubari began mastering the Mistral windsurfer (which was the windsurfer model used in the Olympic Games at the time).
In 2002, Zubari won the under-17 World Championships, and in 2004, he won the silver medal in the Youth World Championships held in Bulgaria
.
decided to replace the Olympic windsurfing discipline model from the Mistral surfboard to the "Neil Pryde" RS:X surfboard. The majority of Olympic windsurfers found it hard to adjust to the new model, as they were already used to years of sailing on the Mistral. However, this provided younger surfers, such as Zubari, with a chance to close the gaps in experience and catch up with the veteran windsurfers.
At the beginning of 2006, in the first Israeli windsurfing competition held using the RS:X model, Zubari finished first, while two-time Israeli Olympic medalist Gal Fridman
managed only to finish in 4th place.
Zubari also attained significant international results:
These accomplishments led to the replacement of Fridman with Zubari on the national Israeli team for Israel at the 2008 Summer Olympics
in Beijing
, China.
At the beginning of 2008, Zubari also won the bronze medal at the Windsurfing World Championships
held in Auckland
, New Zealand.
Because of his physique and years of training in the Gulf of Eilat area, Zubari's success in competitions is achieved mainly when sea winds are weak to medium (up to 12 knots). Evidence of this is his weak performance in a tournament held in Italy during 2007, where very strong winds resulted in his being placed 34th.
Zubari entered the 2008 Olympic Games under the shadow of Gal Fridman
, a two-time Olympic medalist for Israel. He was ranked outside the top 10 coming into the tournament, but was surprisingly ranked in an overall 1st place after the first 4 (of the total 11) events, finishing 1st and 3rd respectively. But in the following 4 events, Zubari's best finish was a 6th place, in between 17th, 18th and 19th place finishes – results that certainly seemed to end his hopes of an Olympic medal.
In the next events, however, Zubari came back to win the 9th and placed 4th in the 10th event, thus re-entering the medal race as 4th place overall.
Just before the final medal race was about to start, Greek windsurfer Nikolaos Kaklamanakis
, who was next to Zubari in the start line, was disqualified for an attempted head start
. Zubari thought the judges disqualified him as well (in fact they did not), and decided to play it safe by "re-entering" the race and returned to the start line. By the time Zubari finally started surfing, he was approximately 1 minute behind the entire fleet.
Zubari had to place 4 places ahead of one of the top-3 surfers in order to win a medal and he accomplished just that by coming back from last place and finishing in an incredible 2nd place, and 3rd overall, while Great Britain's Nick Dempsey
lost his medal by placing 7th – an overall 4th place finish.
Zubari's results were:
(Notes: the worst race score is omitted. The medal race score is doubled.)
After the Olympics, Zubari made a number of offensive comments about his Chinese hosts in an interview with Yediot Ahronot, including what the Associated Press
described as a "scatological expletive" and criticizing Chinese traditions, speech and food, such as "After a month and a half I couldn't look at Chinese people any more", "Their traditions are bizarre and even their speech is weird". Zubari later released an apology, and the Israeli Sport and Culture Minister condemned Zubari's remarks to the Chinese Ambassador. which he called "despicable", and "do not reflect the views of the Israeli people toward the Chinese people."
in 2005 and received an "Athlete of Excellence" status, allowing him to compete in international competitions. He went through recruit training
in the Zikim base
and then became a quartermaster
in the Israeli navy base in Eilat, his hometown.
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
i windsurfer and Olympic
Olympic Games
The Olympic Games is a major international event featuring summer and winter sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The Olympic Games have come to be regarded as the world’s foremost sports competition where more than 200 nations participate...
bronze medalist, surfing in the "Neil Pryde" RS:X discipline. He was born in Eilat, Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
.
Early career
Zubari is Jewish, and a native of Eilat. He began surfing at the age of 7 with the encouragment of his father. After winning a number of local surfing competitions, Zubari began training professionally.His first achievement was a silver medal in the 2000 Windsurfing World Championships
Windsurfing World Championships
The Windsurfing World Championships is an international sailing competition organized by the ISAF , held since 1980, now annually.-Editions:...
for boys. With the Olympics in mind, Zubari began mastering the Mistral windsurfer (which was the windsurfer model used in the Olympic Games at the time).
In 2002, Zubari won the under-17 World Championships, and in 2004, he won the silver medal in the Youth World Championships held in Bulgaria
Bulgaria
Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...
.
RS:X Era
In 2004, the ISAFInternational Sailing Federation
The International Sailing Federation is recognised by the International Olympic Committee as the world governing body for the sport of sailing....
decided to replace the Olympic windsurfing discipline model from the Mistral surfboard to the "Neil Pryde" RS:X surfboard. The majority of Olympic windsurfers found it hard to adjust to the new model, as they were already used to years of sailing on the Mistral. However, this provided younger surfers, such as Zubari, with a chance to close the gaps in experience and catch up with the veteran windsurfers.
At the beginning of 2006, in the first Israeli windsurfing competition held using the RS:X model, Zubari finished first, while two-time Israeli Olympic medalist Gal Fridman
Gal Fridman
Gal Fridman is an Israeli windsurfer and Olympic gold medalist.He was born in Karkur, Israel, and lives in nearby kibbutz Sdot Yam.Fridman won a bronze medal in the Atlanta 1996 Summer Olympics, and a gold medal in the Athens 2004 Summer Olympics...
managed only to finish in 4th place.
Zubari also attained significant international results:
- 2007 – Pre-Olympic championship silver medal finish in France.
- 2007 – 6th place finish in the European Championships held in CyprusCyprusCyprus , officially the Republic of Cyprus , is a Eurasian island country, member of the European Union, in the Eastern Mediterranean, east of Greece, south of Turkey, west of Syria and north of Egypt. It is the third largest island in the Mediterranean Sea.The earliest known human activity on the...
. - 2007 – 8th place finish in the World Championships held in Portugal.
These accomplishments led to the replacement of Fridman with Zubari on the national Israeli team for Israel at the 2008 Summer Olympics
Israel at the 2008 Summer Olympics
Israel competed at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China. This was Israel's 14th participation in the Summer Olympics.43 Israeli athletes competed in Beijing, the largest Israeli delegation in Olympic history, the previous record having been 40 at Sydney 2000...
in Beijing
Beijing
Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...
, China.
At the beginning of 2008, Zubari also won the bronze medal at the Windsurfing World Championships
Windsurfing World Championships
The Windsurfing World Championships is an international sailing competition organized by the ISAF , held since 1980, now annually.-Editions:...
held in Auckland
Auckland
The Auckland metropolitan area , in the North Island of New Zealand, is the largest and most populous urban area in the country with residents, percent of the country's population. Auckland also has the largest Polynesian population of any city in the world...
, New Zealand.
Because of his physique and years of training in the Gulf of Eilat area, Zubari's success in competitions is achieved mainly when sea winds are weak to medium (up to 12 knots). Evidence of this is his weak performance in a tournament held in Italy during 2007, where very strong winds resulted in his being placed 34th.
Beijing 2008
Gal Fridman
Gal Fridman is an Israeli windsurfer and Olympic gold medalist.He was born in Karkur, Israel, and lives in nearby kibbutz Sdot Yam.Fridman won a bronze medal in the Atlanta 1996 Summer Olympics, and a gold medal in the Athens 2004 Summer Olympics...
, a two-time Olympic medalist for Israel. He was ranked outside the top 10 coming into the tournament, but was surprisingly ranked in an overall 1st place after the first 4 (of the total 11) events, finishing 1st and 3rd respectively. But in the following 4 events, Zubari's best finish was a 6th place, in between 17th, 18th and 19th place finishes – results that certainly seemed to end his hopes of an Olympic medal.
In the next events, however, Zubari came back to win the 9th and placed 4th in the 10th event, thus re-entering the medal race as 4th place overall.
Just before the final medal race was about to start, Greek windsurfer Nikolaos Kaklamanakis
Nikolaos Kaklamanakis
Nikolaos "Nikos" Kaklamanakis is the Greek Gold-medal winner who lit the Olympic torch in the opening ceremony of the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens....
, who was next to Zubari in the start line, was disqualified for an attempted head start
Head start (positioning)
In positioning, a head start is a start in advance of the starting position of others in competition, or simply toward the finish line or desired outcome...
. Zubari thought the judges disqualified him as well (in fact they did not), and decided to play it safe by "re-entering" the race and returned to the start line. By the time Zubari finally started surfing, he was approximately 1 minute behind the entire fleet.
Zubari had to place 4 places ahead of one of the top-3 surfers in order to win a medal and he accomplished just that by coming back from last place and finishing in an incredible 2nd place, and 3rd overall, while Great Britain's Nick Dempsey
Nick Dempsey
Nick Dempsey is an English windsurfer, who lives in Weymouth. He married Sarah Ayton in October 2008 just 2 months after their gold medal victories. In June 2009, they had a son, Thomas-Flynn....
lost his medal by placing 7th – an overall 4th place finish.
Zubari's results were:
| Race | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | Medal race |
Score | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Result | 1 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 17 | 6 | (19) | 18 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 58 (77) |  |
(Notes: the worst race score is omitted. The medal race score is doubled.)
After the Olympics, Zubari made a number of offensive comments about his Chinese hosts in an interview with Yediot Ahronot, including what the Associated Press
Associated Press
The Associated Press is an American news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, radio and television stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists...
described as a "scatological expletive" and criticizing Chinese traditions, speech and food, such as "After a month and a half I couldn't look at Chinese people any more", "Their traditions are bizarre and even their speech is weird". Zubari later released an apology, and the Israeli Sport and Culture Minister condemned Zubari's remarks to the Chinese Ambassador. which he called "despicable", and "do not reflect the views of the Israeli people toward the Chinese people."
Achievements
| Year | Tournament | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 2007 | Pre-Olympic Championship, France | 2nd |
| 2007 | European Championship, Cyprus Cyprus Cyprus , officially the Republic of Cyprus , is a Eurasian island country, member of the European Union, in the Eastern Mediterranean, east of Greece, south of Turkey, west of Syria and north of Egypt. It is the third largest island in the Mediterranean Sea.The earliest known human activity on the... |
6th |
| 2007 | World Championship, Portugal | 8th |
| 2008 | World Championship, New Zealand | 3rd |
| 2008 | Olympic Games, China | 3rd |
| 2009 | European Championship, Israel Israel The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea... |
1st |
| 2010 | European Championship, Poland | 1st |
Personal life
Zubari joined the Israel Defense ForcesIsrael Defense Forces
The Israel Defense Forces , commonly known in Israel by the Hebrew acronym Tzahal , are the military forces of the State of Israel. They consist of the ground forces, air force and navy. It is the sole military wing of the Israeli security forces, and has no civilian jurisdiction within Israel...
in 2005 and received an "Athlete of Excellence" status, allowing him to compete in international competitions. He went through recruit training
Tironut
Tironut is the Hebrew name for the recruit training of the Israel Defense Forces . In the IDF, recruit training comes in many difficulty levels, each corps or major unit having their own training program. After the tironut, a recruit is certified as a rifleman of a level that depends on the...
in the Zikim base
Bahad 4
Bahad 4 , commonly known as Batar Zikim is a training base belonging to the Israel Defense Forces.Zikim is located 8 km south of Ashkelon...
and then became a quartermaster
Quartermaster
Quartermaster refers to two different military occupations depending on if the assigned unit is land based or naval.In land armies, especially US units, it is a term referring to either an individual soldier or a unit who specializes in distributing supplies and provisions to troops. The senior...
in the Israeli navy base in Eilat, his hometown.