Or "Ori" Sasson ( he, אור "אורי" ששון; born 18 August 1990) is a retired Israeli Olympic

judoka is an unarmed modern Japanese martial art, Olympic sport (since 1964), and the most prominent form of jacket wrestling competed internationally.『日本大百科全書』電子版【柔道】(CD-ROM version of Encyclopedia Nipponica, "Judo"). ...

. He won a bronze medal in the +100 kg category at the

2016 Summer Olympics ) , nations = 207 (including IOA and EOR teams) , athletes = 11,238 , events = 306 in 28 sports (41 disciplines) , opening = 5 August 2016 , closing = 21 August 2016 , opened_by = Vice President Michel Temer , cauldron = Vanderlei Cordeiro de ...

and another one at the

2020 Summer Olympics The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the host city during the ...

. He is the second of two Israelis to win two Olympic medals. In June 2015, representing

Israel at the 2015 European Games Israel competed at the 2015 European Games, in Baku, Azerbaijan from 12 to 28 June 2015. The 2015 European Games represents Israel's largest ever delegation to a sports competition. Prior to the start of the event Israel planned to send 141 athle ...

in judo in the +100 kg category in

Baku Baku (, ; az, Bakı ) is the capital and largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and of the Caucasus region. Baku is located below sea level, which makes it the lowest lying national capital in the world an ...

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan (, ; az, Azərbaycan ), officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, , also sometimes officially called the Azerbaijan Republic is a transcontinental country located at the boundary of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is a part of th ...

, Sasson won a

silver medal A silver medal in sports and other similar areas involving competition is a medal made of, or plated with, silver awarded to the second-place finisher, or runner-up, of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, et ...

for Israel in the inaugural

European Games The European Games is a continental multi-sport event in the Olympic tradition contested by athletes from European nations and several transcontinental countries. The Games were envisioned and are governed by the European Olympic Committees ...

. In doing so he won the silver medal in the 2015 European Judo Championship.

Early and personal life

Sasson was born in

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

, to a family of

Sephardic Jewish Sephardic (or Sephardi) Jews (, ; lad, Djudíos Sefardíes), also ''Sepharadim'' , Modern Hebrew: ''Sfaradim'', Tiberian: Səp̄āraddîm, also , ''Ye'hude Sepharad'', lit. "The Jews of Spain", es, Judíos sefardíes (or ), pt, Judeus sefa ...

( Kurdish-Jewish) descent. His parents are Varda and Haim Sasson. He is the younger brother of former

judo is an unarmed modern Japanese martial art, Olympic sport (since 1964), and the most prominent form of jacket wrestling competed internationally.『日本大百科全書』電子版【柔道】(CD-ROM version of Encyclopedia Nipponica, "Judo") ...

ka and Israel national judo team captain Alon Sasson, who, when they were children, would hit him to show him who was boss. He resides in

Netanya Netanya (also known as Natanya, he, נְתַנְיָה) is a city in the Northern Central District of Israel, and is the capital of the surrounding Sharon plain. It is north of Tel Aviv, and south of Haifa, between Poleg stream and Wingate ...

, Israel, and studies

business administration Business administration, also known as business management, is the administration of a commercial enterprise. It includes all aspects of overseeing and supervising the business operations of an organization. From the point of view of management ...

Ruppin Academic Center Ruppin Academic Center (), also known as Ruppin College, is a college in Israel, which has the status of an institutional settlement. It was established in 1949, is named after Arthur Ruppin, and is located near the moshav Kfar Monash, and withi ...

College in Hefer Valley, Israel. Sasson is a fan of

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

and basketball team

Hapoel Jerusalem B.C. Hapoel Jerusalem Basketball Club ( he, מועדון כדורסל הפועל ירושלים), known for sponsorship reasons as Hapoel Bank Yahav Jerusalem (הפועל בנק יהב ירושלים‎), is a professional basketball club based in t ...

In 2020, Sasson competed in the Israeli version of ''The Masked Singer'' reality singing show, hiding in full-body

falafel Falafel (; ar, فلافل, ) is a deep-fried ball or patty-shaped fritter in Middle Eastern cuisine (especially in Levantine and Egyptian cuisines) made from ground chickpeas, broad beans, or both. Nowadays, falafel is often served ...

sandwich costume, and finished third.

Judo career

Sasson started training in judo when he was eight years old. His coaches are

Gil Ofer Gil Ofer (also spelled Gil Offer,https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=4061659317216801&id=463230570393045 he, גיל עופר; born July 15, 1976) is an Israeli former Olympic judoka and coach. Personal life He is a cousin of Amer ...

and

Oren Smadja Shay-Oren Smadja ( he, אורן סמדג'ה; born June 20, 1970) is a former Israeli judoka and a judo coach. Smadja won the Olympic bronze medal in judo at the 1992 Summer Olympics, making him the first Israeli man to win an Olympic medal, and t ...

, his club is Meitav Jerusalem, and he started competing in 2005. He has worked with Noam Eyal, a sports psychologist who works for the

Olympic Committee of Israel The Olympic Committee of Israel (Hebrew: הוועד האולימפי בישראל) is the recognized National Olympic Committee (NOC) of Israel, and the governing body of Olympic sports in Israel. The OCI's headquarters is located at the Nationa ...

. Sasson won the Israeli judo championship at −100 kg (−220 pounds) in 2007–09 and 2011, and at +100 kg in 2011 and 2012. In July 2009 Sasson won the

gold medal A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture. Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have be ...

at the

2009 Maccabiah Games The 18th Maccabiah Games ( he, המכביה ה-18 ישראל תשס"ט), were held in July 2009. According to the organizing committee these were the largest games held yet. These Games were the world's fifth-largest sporting event, behind the O ...

Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( he, תֵּל־אָבִיב-יָפוֹ, translit=Tēl-ʾĀvīv-Yāfō ; ar, تَلّ أَبِيب – يَافَا, translit=Tall ʾAbīb-Yāfā, links=no), often referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the G ...

, Israel, in judo at −100 kg. In September 2011 he competed in the Judo World Cup in

Tashkent Tashkent (, uz, Toshkent, Тошкент/, ) (from russian: Ташкент), or Toshkent (; ), also historically known as Chach is the capital and largest city of Uzbekistan. It is the most populous city in Central Asia, with a population of 2 ...

Uzbekistan Uzbekistan (, ; uz, Ozbekiston, italic=yes / , ; russian: Узбекистан), officially the Republic of Uzbekistan ( uz, Ozbekiston Respublikasi, italic=yes / ; russian: Республика Узбекистан), is a doubly landlocked co ...

, where Iranian

Javad Mahjoub Javad Mahjoub ( fa, جواد محجوب, born 26 May 1991 in Chenaran, Razavi Khorasan Province, Iran) is an Iranian judoka. He competed for Iran at the following tournaments: * 2010 Asian Games, 7th * 2011 World Judo Championships, Quarter-f ...

was slated to face him, but refused. In February 2012, he won a gold medal in the World Cup Prague in judo at +100 kg. In February 2013 and the following month, Sasson won gold medals in the European Open

Tbilisi Tbilisi ( ; ka, თბილისი ), in some languages still known by its pre-1936 name Tiflis ( ), is the capital and the largest city of Georgia, lying on the banks of the Kura River with a population of approximately 1.5 million pe ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

and the European Open

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officiall ...

at −100 kg. In September 2014, he won a gold medal at the European Open

Tallinn Tallinn () is the most populous and capital city of Estonia. Situated on a bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, Tallinn has a population of 437,811 (as of 2022) and administratively lies in the Harju '' ...

Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, an ...

at +100 kg, as he weighed approximately 115 kg and returned from surgery on an injured thumb. On 26 June 2015, representing

in judo in the +100 kg category (while weighing 120 kg (265 lb)) in

, Sasson won a

for Israel in the inaugural

, and in doing so won the silver medal in the 2015 European Judo Championship. He lost to 159 kg (351 lb)

Adam Okruashvili Adam Okruashvili ( Georgian: ადამ ოქრუაშვილი; born 1 January 1989 in Tbilisi, Georgian SSR, Soviet Union) is a Georgian judoka. He competed at the 2012 Summer Olympics and the 2016 Olympics in the +100 kg event. Okru ...

of Georgia in the final. He won the silver medal at the

2016 European Judo Championships The 2016 European Judo Championships were held in Kazan, Russia, between 21–24 April 2016. Medal overview Men Women Medal table References External links * ResultsTeam results {{European championships in 2016 Eu ...

Rio Olympics

At the

, Sasson defeated Egyptian judoka Islam El Shahaby in the first round. When the match ended, Sasson tried to shake his opponent's hand, but El Shahaby refused—to loud boos and jeers from the near-capacity crowd for the Egyptian's behavior. El Shahaby later announced that he was retiring from judo. Sasson also beat Polish judoka Maciej Sarnacki, defeated Dutch judoka Roy Meyer, and overcame Cuban judoka Alex Garcia Mendoza. His only loss was in the semi-finals against the eventual gold medal winner French judoka

Teddy Riner Teddy Pierre-Marie Riner (, ; born 7 April 1989) is a French judoka. He has won ten World Championships gold medals, the first and only judoka (male or female) to do so, and three Olympic gold medals (two individual, one team). He has also won ...

. Sasson was awarded the

Olympic bronze medal An Olympic medal is awarded to successful competitors at one of the Olympic Games. There are three classes of medal to be won: gold medal, gold, silver medal, silver, and bronze medal, bronze, awarded to first, second, and third place, respect ...

at Judo +100 kg.

After Rio

Sasson took part in the torch lighting ceremony at the

2017 Maccabiah Games The 2017 Maccabiah Games ( he, משחקי המכביה 2017), also referred to as the 20th Maccabiah Games ( he, המכביה ה-20), were the 20th edition of the Maccabiah Games. They took place from 4 to 17 July 2017, in Israel. The Maccabiah ...

on 6 July 2017. On 8 October 2017, Sasson competed at the Tashkent Grand Prix, his first competition since the 2016 Olympics, and won the gold medal. On 28 October, he won the bronze medal at the 2017 Abu Dhabi Grand Slam after he defeated Benjamin Harmegnies of Belgium by

waza-ari is the second highest score a fighter can achieve in a Japanese martial arts ''ippon'' or ''waza-ari'' contest, usually judo, karate or jujutsu. ''Waza-ari'' in judo A ''waza-ari'' is the second highest score a fighter can achieve in judo, the ...

. In 2018, he won the silver medal in the Zagreb Grand Prix. In 2019 he won the gold medal at the Tel Aviv Grand Prix, the silver medal at the Ekaterinburg Grand Slam, and the gold medal at the

Budapest Grand Prix The Budapest Grand Prix (also Hungarian Grand Prix) is a women's tennis tournament held in Budapest, Hungary. This WTA Tour event is an International-level tournament and is played on outdoor clay courts. The tournament was formerly known as ' ...

. Sasson represents

Israel at the 2020 Summer Olympics Israel competed at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo with its largest contingent to date − a delegation of 90 athletes, 55 men and 35 women, who competed in 15 different sports. This was almost double the previous number of 47 athletes who repre ...

, competing at the men's +100 kg weight category. Sasson was drawn directly into the second round, where he again met Rinner, the only judoka to beat him in the last Olympics. Much like in 2016, the ten-time world champion and two-time Olympic champion Frenchman beat Sasson by a waza-ari, this time eliminating him from the individual competition. On 31 July 2020, Sasson won his shared second bronze medal as part of the Israel national judo Mixed team.

Achievements

Source:

References

External links

* * *
Or Sasson
at the

European Judo Union The EJU consists of 51 national Judo federations/associations, and is itself recognised by the IJF as one of five continental unions. The organisation of the administration of Judo is based on a pyramid system of regulations, with the IJF the wo ...

* * (video), baku2015.com, 27 June 2015 {{DEFAULTSORT:Sasson, Or 1990 births Living people Israeli male judoka Israeli Sephardi Jews Jewish martial artists Jewish Israeli sportspeople Sportspeople from Jerusalem Maccabiah Games gold medalists for Israel Competitors at the 2009 Maccabiah Games European Games medalists in judo Judoka at the 2015 European Games European Games silver medalists for Israel Israeli people of Kurdish-Jewish descent Olympic bronze medalists for Israel Olympic judoka of Israel Judoka at the 2016 Summer Olympics Olympic medalists in judo Medalists at the 2016 Summer Olympics Maccabiah Games medalists in judo Judoka at the 2020 Summer Olympics Israeli Mizrahi Jews Israeli Jews Medalists at the 2020 Summer Olympics