Gal Fridman

Gal Fridman (or Friedman, Hebrew: גל פרידמן; born September 16, 1975) is an Israeli windsurfer and Israel's first Olympic gold medalist.He was born in Karkur, Israel, and lives close to the water in Sdot Yam, a nearby kibbutz.Fridman was coached by retired Olympic windsurfing silver (1992) and bronze medalist (1988) Michael Gebhardt from the U.S. (Note: the worst race score is thrown out) In the last race on August 25, 2004, Fridman finished a hard-fought 2nd, exploiting a tactical mistake made by Brazilian leader Ricardo Santos and beat Greek windsurfer Nikolaos Kaklamanakis to end the Olympic Regatta with the lowest score of 42 points, which secured his 2004 Olympic gold medal in windsurfing.Fridman dedicated his medal to the memory of the 11 Israeli athletes murdered by terrorists during the 1972 Summer Olympics.[5] Final results 1st: Gal Fridman – Israel (Gold medal) 2nd: Nikolaos Kaklamanakis – Greece (Silver medal) 3rd: Nick Dempsey – Great Britain (Bronze medal) 4th: Ricardo Santos – Brazil 5th: Przemysław Miarczyński – Poland Approaching the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Fridman found it hard to adjust to the new Olympic Windsurf board model, the RS:X Neil Pryde windsurfer.
Fridman receives a certificate from Prime Minister Ariel Sharon at a reception for the Olympic athletes' return from the Athens 2004 Olympic Games at "Beit Hanassi" in Jerusalem.
Karkur, IsraelCyclingIsraelSailingMistralSdot YamMike GebhardtOlympic finalsOlympic Games2004 Athens1996 AtlantaWorld Championships2003 CádizEuropean ChampionshipsHebrewwindsurferOlympicgold medalistbronze medalAtlanta 1996 Summer OlympicsAthens 2004 Summer OlympicsathleteskibbutzKarkurAshkenazi JewishwindsurfingIsrael Defense ForcesEilat, IsraelThailandInternational Sailing FederationSailing at the 1996 Summer Olympics1996 Summer OlympicsSailing at the 2000 Summer OlympicsSydney 2000 OlympicsSailing at the 2004 Summer OlympicsAriel SharonjudokaAriel Ze'eviAleksander Averbukh2004 Summer OlympicsMistral Windsurfer ClassRicardo SantosNikolaos Kaklamanakismurdered1972 Summer OlympicsNick DempseyPrzemysław MiarczyńskiSailing at the 2008 Summer OlympicsShahar TzuberiCyprusNimrod MashiahTom ReuvenyIsrael at the 2024 Paris OlympicsMen's iQFoilMarseilleInternational Jewish Sports Hall of FameOlympic Games, AtlantaOlympic Games, AthensList of Olympic medalists in sailingList of World Championships medalists in sailing (windsurfer classes)Israel at the OlympicsSports in IsraelMallon, BillSports Reference LLCWorld SailingOlympics.comOlympediaOlympic Committee of IsraelJewish Agency for IsraelJewish Virtual LibraryFacebookStephan van den BergBruce KendallFranck DavidChristoph SieberTom AshleyDorian van RijsselbergheKiran BadloeArtem DolgopyatLinoy AshramYael AradInbar LanirRaz HershkoSharon KantorOren SmadjaMichael KolganovArik Ze'eviYarden GerbiOr SassonAvishag SembergIsrael national judo teamPeter Paltchik