Aryeh (Arik) Zeevi 1977-

Judoka, European Champion, Olympic Medallist

Arik Zeevi was born in Israel and grew up in the neighborhood of Pardess Katz, adjacent to the ultra-orthodox town of Bnei Brak, in the Tel Aviv conurbation. His mother came to Israel with the Moroccan Aliyah and his father came from Tunisia. The third of three sons, who all learned judo at Hapoel Bnei Brak Sports (Judo) Club www.hapoel-bb.up.co.il , he also has a younger sister. He began learning judo at the age of 6 and has stayed with the same trainer, Ramaz Mamistalvov and club; he is the only member of the family to remain in competitive judo. He attended the Ouziel Elementary School and then the David Remez High School in Pardess Katz, which was located next door to the Hapoel Sports Center. Today, he lives in Kfar Shmaryahu.

At age 12, Arik gained second place nationally in judo for his age group, and at 14 won the Israeli national Cadets' championship (14-18 age group). At 15, he was the first ever young judoka to become Israeli Champion in the Seniors' category, and he was the first Isareli to win the Judo World Junior Championship (France). At 16, he won two world championships and at 17 was placed third in the under 21 European Junior Championship, winning the European Juniors' gold medal at age 17 and a half. At 20, he was placed seventh in the world Seniors' Championship, 5th in the Sydney Olympics, and by age 24 he had been placed third in the European Championship. The year 2001 saw Arik Zeevi reach for the sky: he won the European gold medal in the Seniors' Championship and took the silver medal in the World Seniors' Championship in the open category. His achievements in 2002 were not as spectacular, but he became the European Champion and gold medallist for 2003-2004, putting him in second place worldwide.

In 2001, Arik Zeevi was awarded the Israel Ministry of Education prize for competitive sport; in 2003, Maariv newspaper named him Israeli sportsman of the year. Expectations for the 2004 Athens Olympic games were high and Zeevi trained intensively, but fell ill before the games, suffered an injury above his right eye, and struggled to maintain the required weight for his category (<100kg). Despite this, he was determined to compete; there was a great deal of pressure on him to succeed, including the build-up given him by the Israeli press and media, and the focus on him began long before he carried Israel's flag into the Olympic stadium.

Arik Zeevi's competitive events were attended by enthusiastic crowds of Israeli supporters, whom he acknowledged as a major factor in pushing him to victory, through and beyond his exhaustion, recovering from his earlier loss in the quarter finals to win against six other contestants and achieve the rank of bronze medallist. Significantly, this happened on the anniversary and memorial day for the Israeli Olympic athletes and trainers killed by Black September at the 1972 Munich Olympics. Zeevi has plans to train for the Beijing Olympics.

Photographs (C) reproduced with permission from www.hapoel-bb.up.co.il and from the collection of Ramaz Mamistalvov
Written by: Gila Ansell Brauner with Ramaz Mamistalvov
Research: Sandra Michaelovsky