An Israeli Judoka who won a bronze medal in the 2024 Paris Olympics declared that he “wanted to make everyone happy.”
Peter Paltchik, overjoyed, told Sports5, “I can’t explain in words what I’m going through.”
Paltchik’s coach, Oren Smadga, decided to go ahead and participate in the Olympics even though he lost his son Sgt. First Class (res.) Omer Smadga, who was killed fighting in Gaza.
Paltchik described his coach as a “lion with a huge heart,” and he said, “Oren, after what he went through—I couldn’t give up for even one moment.”
He continued, “The period we’re going through in the country, the war, the wounds, the people we won’t see again — I just wanted to make everyone happy.
He thanked his wife, who is pregnant and his twin sons, who “sacrificed so much.”
“I fought for everyone, for our flag, we worked so hard for this moment,” Paltchik said.
