Maya Arusi (; born October 17, 1982, in

Haifa Haifa ( ; , ; ) is the List of cities in Israel, third-largest city in Israel—after Jerusalem and Tel Aviv—with a population of in . The city of Haifa forms part of the Haifa metropolitan area, the third-most populous metropolitan area i ...

) is an Israeli

taekwondo Taekwondo (; ; ) is a Korean martial art and combat sport involving primarily kicking techniques and punching. "Taekwondo" can be translated as ''tae'' ("strike with foot"), ''kwon'' ("strike with hand"), and ''do'' ("the art or way"). In ad ...

practitioner, who competed in the women's flyweight category. She claimed two medals (a silver and a bronze) in the 51-kg division at the Trelleborg Open, and became the first Israeli athlete in history to compete in taekwondo in the Olympics at the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad (), and officially branded as Athens 2004 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 13 to 29 August 2004 in Athens, Greece. The Games saw 10,625 athletes ...

. Arusi trained throughout her career for Amos Lod Taekwondo Club, under head coach and master Alexei Orehov. Arusi qualified as a lone taekwondo fighter for the Israeli squad in the women's flyweight class (49 kg) at the

Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

, by placing second behind Spain's

Brigitte Yagüe Brigitte Yagüe Enrique (born 15 March 1981 in Palma de Mallorca, Balearic Islands, Spain) is a taekwondo practitioner from Spain. In 2004, Yagüe qualified for the Athens Olympics, winning over rival Belen Asensio in the –49&nbs ...

and granting a berth from the European Olympic Qualifying Tournament in

Baku, Azerbaijan Baku (, ; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Azerbaijan, largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and in the Caucasus region. Baku is below sea level, which makes it the List of capital ci ...

. Arusi suffered an immediate 1–5 defeat to Venezuela's

Dalia Contreras Dalia María Contreras Rivero (born September 20, 1983) is a Venezuelan taekwondo practitioner. She won a bronze medal at the 2008 Summer Olympics in taekwondo. She also competed at the 2004 Summer Olympics, finishing 8th in her weight class. ...

in her opening match. With her Venezuelan opponent being beaten by Canada's

Ivett Gonda Ivett Gonda (born April 28, 1986 in Jászberény, Hungary) is a Hungarian-born Canadian retired taekwondo competitor. She moved to Canada when she was four. From 1995 to mid 2013 Gonda competed professionally for Canada until she decided to compe ...

in the quarterfinals, Arusi hindered her chances to compete for an Olympic bronze medal in the repechage. She is one of three Israeli taekwondo Olympians, along with Bat El Gaterer (Beijing, 2008) and

Ron Atias Ron Atias (; born 19 April 1995) is an Israeli Olympic taekwondo athlete who represented Israel at the 2016 Summer Olympics. Taekwondo career Atias, who started in the sport at the age of seven, trains in Ramla, Israel, which is his hometown. Hi ...

(Rio de Janeiro, 2016).

References

External links

* 1982 births Living people Israeli female taekwondo practitioners Olympic taekwondo practitioners for Israel Taekwondo practitioners at the 2004 Summer Olympics Sportspeople from Haifa 21st-century Israeli sportswomen {{Israel-taekwondo-bio-stub