Israeli teens took home three medals from the World Youth Windsurfing Championship, which took place October 26 to November 2 in Sa Rapita, Spain.

Alba Klein (U17 Women) and Itamar Levi (U17 Men), both from the Sdot Yam Sailing Club, won gold medals and were designated world champions in their class.

David Aleshko, 16, from the Eilat Sailing Club, won a bronze medal in the U17 class. There were also contestants from the Haifa Sailing Club, Michmoret Sailing Club and Hapoel Tel Aviv.

Altogether, 375 competitors from 35 nations competed at the event in iQFoil, a windsurfing class selected by World Sailing to replace the RS:X for the 2024 Olympics.

Race Officer Ewa Jodkowska said, “It was a very challenging event. We struggled with a lack of wind nearly every other day, plus the storm alert on the final day of the opening series, which prevented us from completing all scheduled races.”

Itamar, 16, said that “being so trained and a bit heavier than my opponents, it’s like a gift in strong winds. I am thankful for that. I worked really hard to be here and I must thank my coach and my parents; they helped me to get me here.”

Alba, 15, commented: “I came to this championship without many expectations, but I believed that I could achieve a good result. In the end, we sang Hatikva on the podium twice, showing the whole world that we are still here and we will not give up for a second.”

Peleg Hovav, who coaches Alba and Itamar, dedicated the medals in memory of his cousin, Master Sergeant Lior Arzi, 25, who fell in battle in Gaza exactly a year before the sailing event, November 3. Hovav also took the opportunity to call for the return of the hostages still in Gaza, and some of the Israeli contestants wore symbols in solidarity with the hostages.

Originally posted at israel21c.org