Ofir Shaham (

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 ...

: אופיר שחם; born 23 November 2004) is a retired Israeli team world champion

rhythmic gymnast Rhythmic gymnastics is a sport in which gymnasts perform individually or in groups on a floor with an apparatus: hoop, ball, clubs, ribbon and rope. The sport combines elements of gymnastics, dance and calisthenics; gymnasts must be strong, fle ...

. She won a 2022 European Championship

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 ...

in the group All-Around, and a 2022 World Championships

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, ...

in the same category. The following year at the 2023 World Championships, she won two team gold medals, one in the Group All-Around and one in the 3 Ribbons + 2 Balls. Shaham represented Israel at the 2024 Paris Olympics in the Women's rhythmic team all-around, in which Team Israel won the

Early life

Shaham's hometown is the town of

Zikhron Ya'akov Zikhron Ya'akov () often shortened to just Zikhron, is a local council (Israel), town in northern Israel, south of the city of Haifa, and part of the Haifa District. It is located at the southern end of the Mount Carmel, Carmel mountain range over ...

in Israel. She studied at the Moshav High School.

Rhythmic gymnastics career

Shaham began the sport at age nine, when in search of a dance class she arrived at the sports hall in Zikhron Ya'akov where

s trained. She was drawn to the combination of gymnastics, dance, apparatus, and flashy clothes. Ilana Brenner was her first coach. After she won an Israeli championship at age 12, she decided that she wanted to go as far as possible in the sport. Her club is Ironi

Netanya Netanya () () or Natanya (), is a city in the "Planet Bekasi" Central District (Israel), Setanyahu of Israel, Israel BAB ih, and is the capital of the surrounding Sharon plain. It is north of Tel Aviv, and south of Haifa, between the Poleg stre ...

. Her ultimate dream is to compete at the

2024 Olympic Games The 2024 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad () and branded as Paris 2024, were an international multi-sport event held in France from 26 July to 11 August 2024, with several events started from 24 July. P ...

, and her idol is Israeli three-time Olympian rhythmic gymnast

Neta Rivkin Neta Rivkin (; born June 19, 1991) is a retired Israeli individual rhythmic gymnast. She is one of Israel's most successful rhythmic gymnasts. A three-time Olympian, in 2011 she won the silver medal in clubs at the 2011 European Championships. ...

2021–22; European champion

In September 2021 auditions for the new Israeli national group began, and about 30 girls from all over the country auditioned. The qualifiers were physically and mentally difficult, and gymnasts were eliminated until nine gymnasts remained. Since January 2022 Shaham trains for 11 hours a day, 6 days a week, at the

Wingate Institute Wingate Institute (), officially Orde Wingate Institute for Physical Education and Sports (), is a sports training institute located south of Netanya, Israel. History Wingate Institute was established in 1957. It was named after Orde Wingate. ...

in Israel. The team debuted at the

2022 World Cup The 2022 FIFA World Cup was the 22nd FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for national football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Qatar from 20 November to 18 December 2022, after the country was awarded the hosting ri ...

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 ...

, Greece, in March, winning gold in 5 hoops and 3 ribbons + 2 balls. Then in the 2022

Baku 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 ...

World Cup in

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan, officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, is a Boundaries between the continents, transcontinental and landlocked country at the boundary of West Asia and Eastern Europe. It is a part of the South Caucasus region and is bounded by ...

in April they 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 ...

in the All-Around and 5 hoops. At the 2022

Pamplona Pamplona (; ), historically also known as Pampeluna in English, is the capital city of the Navarre, Chartered Community of Navarre, in Spain. Lying at near above sea level, the city (and the wider Cuenca de Pamplona) is located on the flood pl ...

World Cup in Spain in May they won All-Around silver, at the 2022

Portimão Portimão () is a city and a municipality in the district of Faro (district), Faro, in the Algarve region of southern Portugal. The population in 2022 was 63,079 in an area of 182.06 km2. It was formerly known as Vila Nova de Portimão. In ...

World Cup in Portugal in May they won the All-Around gold, and at the 2022

Cluj-Napoca Cluj-Napoca ( ; ), or simply Cluj ( , ), is a city in northwestern Romania. It is the second-most populous city in the country and the seat of Cluj County. Geographically, it is roughly equidistant from Bucharest (), Budapest () and Belgrade ( ...

World Cup in Romania in August they won the All-Around and 5 hoops silver. In June 2022 Shaham competed in the

2022 European Championships The 2022 European Championships were the second edition of the European Championships (multi-sport event), European Championships. It was a multi-sport event which took place in Munich, Germany from 11 to 21 August 2022. The event started three d ...

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 ...

, Israel, where the group won the All-Around gold medal ahead of Italy, and won the

with 5 hoops, as well as the bronze medal in the senior team category. She competed along with teammates Adar Friedmann, Amit Hedvat,

Romi Paritzki Romi Paritzki (Hebrew: רומי פריצקי: born on 17 June 2004) is a retired Israeli world champion rhythmic gymnast, and captain of Israel's rhythmic gymnastics team. She won the gold medal in the group All-Around at the 2022 European Cha ...

, Shani Bakanov, Diana Svertsov, and in the individuals

Daria Atamanov Daria Atamanov (, ; born December 6, 2005) is a retired Israeli individual Rhythmic gymnastics, rhythmic gymnast. She is the 2022 Rhythmic Gymnastics European Championships, 2022 European all-around Champion, and the 2023 Rhythmic Gymnastics Wor ...

and

Adi Asya Katz Adi Asia Katz (; born 31 March 2004) is a retired Israeli Rhythmic Gymnastics, rhythmic gymnast. She is the 2022 Rhythmic Gymnastics European Championships, 2022 European bronze medallist in Ribbon (rhythmic gymnastics), Ribbon, and Team Bronze m ...

. In September 2022 Shaham competed in the 2022 World Championships in

Sofia Sofia is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain, in the western part of the country. The city is built west of the Is ...

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

, along with Adar Friedmann, Romi Paritzki, Diana Svertsov, and Diana Svertsov, winning two silver medals, one in the All-Around and one in the 5 hoops' final. Despite being among the favourites for a team medal, Israel was not able to take part in the competition because Atamanov broke her foot the day before the competition started and replacements had to be announced at least 24 hours before competition, leaving the country with only Katz in the individual event. In Sofia they won silver in the All-Around and with 5 hoops.

2023; two World championships

In 2023 at the first

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the name is ...

of the season in Athens, Greece, in March the group won gold in the All-Around and with 5 hoops, as well as silver with 3 ribbons + 2 balls. In the 2023 Sofia World Cup in Bulgaria, they won two silver medals, one in the All-Around and one with 5 hoops. In July 2023, with Team Israel at the

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

World Cup in Italy, Shaham won a silver medal in the All-Around, as Italy won the gold medal. In May 2023 at the 2023 European Championships in Baku, Azerbaijan, she and Team Israel won a silver medal in Group All-Around and a bronze medal in Team. In August 2023 at the 2023 World Championships in

Valencia Valencia ( , ), formally València (), is the capital of the Province of Valencia, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, the same name in Spain. It is located on the banks of the Turia (r ...

, Spain, Shaham won two team gold medals, one in the Group All-Around and one in the 3 Ribbons + 2 Balls. Her teammates were Shani Bakanov, Eliza Banchuk, Adar Friedmann, Romi Paritzki, and Diana Svertsov. It was Israel's first group rhythmic gymnastics World Championships gold medal.

2024–present; Paris Olympics silver medal

Shaham represented Israel at the 2024 Paris Olympics in the Women's rhythmic team all-around, in which Team Israel won the

.Nadav Zenziper (August 10, 2024)
"Lucky seven: Israeli rhythmic gymnastics team wins silver at Paris Olympics all-around final,"
''Ynet''.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Shaham, Ofir 2004 births Living people 21st-century Israeli sportswomen Gymnasts at the 2024 Summer Olympics Israeli rhythmic gymnasts Medalists at the Rhythmic Gymnastics European Championships Medalists at the Rhythmic Gymnastics World Championships People from Zikhron Ya'akov Sportspeople from Haifa District Wingate Institute alumni Olympic gymnasts for Israel Olympic medalists in gymnastics Olympic silver medalists for Israel Medalists at the 2024 Summer Olympics