Boris Polak (; born July 15, 1954) is an Israeli former world champion and Olympic

sport shooter Shooting sports is a group of competitive and recreational sporting activities involving proficiency tests of accuracy, precision and speed in shooting — the art of using ranged weapons, mainly small arms (firearms and airguns, in forms such ...

Personal life

Polak is Jewish and was born in

Moldova Moldova, officially the Republic of Moldova, is a Landlocked country, landlocked country in Eastern Europe, with an area of and population of 2.42 million. Moldova is bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. ...

, in 1954. He made ''

aliyah ''Aliyah'' (, ; ''ʿălīyyā'', ) is the immigration of Jews from Jewish diaspora, the diaspora to, historically, the geographical Land of Israel or the Palestine (region), Palestine region, which is today chiefly represented by the Israel ...

'' (immigrated to Israel) with his family from Alma Ata,

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a landlocked country primarily in Central Asia, with a European Kazakhstan, small portion in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the Kazakhstan–Russia border, north and west, China to th ...

in 1992. He lives in

Ashkelon Ashkelon ( ; , ; ) or Ashqelon, is a coastal city in the Southern District (Israel), Southern District of Israel on the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean coast, south of Tel Aviv, and north of the border with the Gaza Strip. The modern city i ...

, Israel, and is married with two children. He has worked as a machinist and as a shooting coach.

Shooting career

Polak started practicing shooting, and competing, in 1968, when he was 14 years old. In 1980, after Polak came in 6th in the

European Shooting Championships The European Shooting Championships are the continental championships for ISSF sport shooting disciplines in Europe, including 10m air rifle and air pistol, cartridge rifle (50m and 300m) and pistol (25m and 50m). Sometimes the competition also i ...

in Oslo in the AR (air rifle) 40M, the Soviet Union dropped him from its Olympic shooting team because some officials thought that at 26 years of age he was too old. He stopped shooting, and for the next seven years served as a

border guard A border guard of a country is a national security agency that ensures border security. Some of the national border guard agencies also perform coast guard (as in Germany, Italy or Ukraine) and rescue service duties. Name and uniform In diff ...

in the

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Republic and, from 1922, the Soviet Union. The army was established in January 1918 by a decree of the Council of People ...

on a mountain top near China, attaining the rank of Colonel. After moving to Israel, while he had not shot competitively for several years, in 1993 Polak won the

bronze medal A bronze medal in sports and other similar areas involving competition is a medal made of bronze awarded to the third-place finisher of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc. The outright winner receives ...

for Israel in the European Shooting Championships. In 1994, he became a world champion, as he won

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 b ...

s at both the

ISSF World Shooting Championships The ISSF World Shooting Championships are governed by the International Shooting Sport Federation The International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) is the governing body of Shooting at the Summer Olympics, Olympic shooting events. It also reg ...

in Milan, Italy (in the AR 60, with a total score of 691.1, ahead of Anatoli Klimenko of

Belarus Belarus, officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east and northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Belarus spans an a ...

) and the European Shooting Championships, set two world records, and won the gold medal in the Milan World Cup with a score of 695.2 in the AR60. Polak scored 591 in the standing and kneeling position, and 280 in the kneeling position. Polak competed for

Israel at the 1996 Summer Olympics Israel competed at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia, Atlanta, United States. 25 competitors, 18 men and 7 women, took part in 26 events in 10 sports. Gal Fridman won a bronze medal in Sailing, the only medal won by an Israeli at thes ...

, in

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

, at the age of 42 the oldest member of the Israeli Olympic team, in Shooting. In the Men's Small-Bore Rifle, Prone, 50 metres, he came in tied for 20th with 594 total points. In the Men's Small-Bore Rifle, Three Positions, 50 metres, he came in tied for 22nd with 1,162 total points. And in the Men's Air Rifle, 10 metres, he came in tied for 33rd with a score of 581. When he competed in the Olympics, he was tall, and weighed . In 1999, Polak won the Milan World Cup in the FR60PR, with a score of 701.7.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Polak, Boris Living people Kazakhstani emigrants to Israel Soviet male sport shooters Olympic shooters for Israel Jewish sport shooters Kazakhstani male sport shooters 1954 births Soviet Jews Moldovan Jews Kazakhstani Jews Moldovan emigrants to Israel Israeli male sport shooters Shooters at the 1996 Summer Olympics Moldovan male sport shooters Israeli people of Moldovan-Jewish descent People from Ashkelon Sportspeople from Southern District (Israel) Sport shooters from Almaty 20th-century Israeli sportsmen