Shahar Milfelder (

Hebrew Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...

: שחר מילפלדר; born 17 September 1997) is an Israeli Paralympic medalist

rower Rowing, often called crew in the United States, is the sport of racing boats using oars. It differs from paddling sports in that rowing oars (called blades in the United Kingdom) are attached to the boat using rowlocks, while paddles are ...

. She competed for Israel at the 2024 Paris Paralympics in the PR2 mixed double sculls and won the bronze medal with her rowing partner

Druze The Druze ( ; , ' or ', , '), who Endonym and exonym, call themselves al-Muwaḥḥidūn (), are an Arabs, Arab Eastern esotericism, esoteric Religious denomination, religious group from West Asia who adhere to the Druze faith, an Abrahamic ...

-Israeli

Saleh Shahin Saleh Shahin (, ; born 28 October 1982) is an Israeli Paralympic medalist Rowing (sport), rower.alternate link

Early life

Milfelder grew up in

Moshav A moshav (, plural ', "settlement, village") is a type of Israeli village or town or Jewish settlement, in particular a type of cooperative agricultural community of individual farms pioneered by the Labour Zionists between 1904 and 1 ...

Beit Yitzchak in Israel. At the age of 15, she was diagnosed with a rare and violent

bone cancer A bone tumor is an neoplastic, abnormal growth of tissue in bone, traditionally classified as benign, noncancerous (benign) or malignant, cancerous (malignant). Cancerous bone tumors usually originate from a cancer in another part of the body su ...

, and at the time was the only patient in Israel who suffered from it. She went to a hospital in New Jersey in the United States for

radiation therapy Radiation therapy or radiotherapy (RT, RTx, or XRT) is a therapy, treatment using ionizing radiation, generally provided as part of treatment of cancer, cancer therapy to either kill or control the growth of malignancy, malignant cell (biology), ...

, but the tumor returned after her treatments. She then underwent a 16-hour operation in a Manhattan hospital, in which half of her

pelvis The pelvis (: pelves or pelvises) is the lower part of an Anatomy, anatomical Trunk (anatomy), trunk, between the human abdomen, abdomen and the thighs (sometimes also called pelvic region), together with its embedded skeleton (sometimes also c ...

was removed. Initially, she had a special brace so she could walk with a walker, but in time she switched to crutches, and she now can move around with one crutch. She moved to Tel Aviv to be close to her training facility. She later volunteered for the

Israel Defense Forces The Israel Defense Forces (IDF; , ), alternatively referred to by the Hebrew-language acronym (), is the national military of the State of Israel. It consists of three service branches: the Israeli Ground Forces, the Israeli Air Force, and ...

, and served for five years as a simulator instructor and officer in the

Israeli Air Force The Israeli Air Force (IAF; , commonly known as , ''Kheil HaAvir'', "Air Corps") operates as the aerial and space warfare branch of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). It was founded on May 28, 1948, shortly after the Israeli Declaration of Indep ...

Rowing career

Milfelder's club is Beit HaLohm

Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( or , ; ), sometimes rendered as Tel Aviv-Jaffa, and usually referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the Gush Dan metropolitan area of Israel. Located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline and with a popula ...

, and she trains at the Daniel Rowing Center with Dima Margolin and Sergi Bokarib. Her rowing partner is

-Israeli

Saleh Shahin Saleh Shahin (, ; born 28 October 1982) is an Israeli Paralympic medalist Rowing (sport), rower.alternate link

, who is 15 years older than she is, and was injured while fighting terrorists on the Gaza border.Dotan Malach (28 August 2024)
"Saleh Shahin and Shahar Milfeder dream of bringing a medal together,"
''Makor Rishon''. At the 2019 World Rowing Cup III, they won a gold medal in the PR3 Mixed Double Sculls (FA). At the 2023 World Rowing Championships, they came in first in the PR2 Mixed Double Sculls Final B. At the 2024 World Rowing Final Olympic and Paralympic Qualification Regatta in Switzerland, they won a silver medal in the PR2 Mixed Double Sculls and qualified for the 2024 Paralympics.Oren Aharoni (26 May 2024)
"Without the injury I might not have been at the Paralympic Games in Paris - that's my destiny,"
''Israel HaYom''.

2024 Paris Paralympics; bronze medal

They competed at the 2024 Paris Paralympics in the PR2 mixed double sculls, and won the bronze medal, with a time of 8:31.85, 13 seconds behind gold medalist Great Britain."I will go to Millfelder and Shaheen in Paris; The pair of Israeli rowers, in their first appearance at the games, reached the podium in rowing,"
''Mako'', 1 September 2024. Milfelder, speaking of the families of the six newly confirmed dead hostages, said: "We had in mind to give pride to the country. I cried in the morning from the hard news, and now I cry from the good news, and send the biggest hug I can to the families of the abducted and to all the citizens of the State of Israel."Jacob Gurvis (3 September 2024)
"As Israel endured a difficult weekend at home, its athletes won several Paralympic medals, bringing Paris total to 7,"
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References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Milfelder, Shahar 1997 births Living people Israeli Air Force personnel Israeli female rowers Medalists at the 2024 Summer Paralympics Moshavniks Paralympic bronze medalists for Israel Paralympic medalists in rowing Paralympic rowers for Israel Rowers at the 2024 Summer Paralympics Sportspeople from Tel Aviv 21st-century Israeli sportswomen

Early life

Rowing career

2024 Paris Paralympics; bronze medal

See also

References

External links