Anat Lelior (Hebrew: ענת ליליאור; born April 29, 2000) is an Israeli Olympic surfer. She represented Israel at the 2020 Summer Olympics, and finished 17th in the shortboard. Lelior represented Israel at the 2024 Paris Olympics in surfing in Women's shortboard, in Teahupo'o reef pass, Tahiti, French Polynesia, and came in ninth.
Anat Lelior ענת ליליאור | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Born | Tel Aviv, Israel[1] | April 29, 2000||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Height | 5 ft 4 in (1.63 m)[2] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Weight | 114 lb (52 kg)[2] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Surfing specifications | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Stance | Goofy[2] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Early life
editLelior was born and raised in Tel Aviv, Israel, and is Jewish.[1][3][4] Her mother is painter and art teacher Eti Jacobi, and her father is Yochai Lelior, who owns a company that provides guidance and rescue services for travelers, such as those who become stuck climbing on a mountain.[5][6][3][7][4] She has a brother Ido, who is a medic in the Israeli Defense Forces, and a sister.[5][8][9]
Her sister Noa Lelior, two years younger than she is, is a professional surfer as well, who in 2015 decided to take the family to a surfing competition in France instead of having her bat mitzvah party - this in turn led her older sister Anat to see a bigger stage in surfing.[8][6][3][4] The sisters both attended Herzliya Hebrew Gymnasium in Tel Aviv.[6] Referring to surfing, Anat said: "Some people don't know what their purpose in life is, Noa and I know."[6] Anat served as a soldier in the Israel Defense Forces for two years; in Israel, military service is mandatory at 18 years of age.[10][11][12][13] She and her family all live in the same apartment in Tel Aviv, between the Carmel Market and the beach.[10][6]
Surfing career
editEarly years; Israeli championships
editLelior began surfing at the age of 5, when her father would take her out to the Mediterranean Sea at the coast of her hometown Tel Aviv.[3][14] She won her first Israeli women's title when she was 12 years old, and said: "I fell in love with winning."[10][13] She won the title every subsequent year until she turned 19 years of age.[15] Lelior's surfing club Galim is owned by Shlomi Eyni and Inbar.[16]
2018–21; World Surf League Europe Pro Junior runner-up
editLelior was the 2018 World Surf League (WSL) Europe Pro Junior runner-up.[17] She won the gold medal in the 2018 Caparica Junior Pro in Portugal, the silver medal in the Caparica Pro, and bronze medals in the Junior Pro Espinho in Portugal, Junior Pro Biscarrosse in France, and Junior Pro Sopela in Spain.[18]
In 2019, she won the Burton Automotive Pro International Trials in Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia at Surfest.[19] Lelior also won the 2019 Deeply Pro Anglet, a WSL Qualifying Series (QS) 1,500 event at Chambre d’Amour in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region of southwestern France, defeating Australian Isabella Nichols in the final, and moving Lelior to third in the European rankings.[20][21][22][12] She won bronze medals in the Cabreiroá Las Americas Pro Tenerife in the Canary Islands, and the Cabreiroá Pro Zarautz Basque Country in Spain.[2]
In 2020 Lelior was honored as a "Global Barbie Role Model," with a Barbie doll created in her image.[23]
In 2021 she won a bronze medal in the Estrella Galicia Caparica Surf Fest in Spain.[2] She said: "I’m meeting people like Owen Wright... I’m so stoked seeing these people. I’m just a kid, you know?... And now, here I am. I’m so hyped and honored to be surfing with some of the world’s best. I’ll be competing against my idols."[10]
2020 Olympic Games
editLelior qualified for the Surfing at the 2020 Summer Olympics. She did so by finishing at 19 years of age as the highest-ranked female surfer from Europe (Israel is considered part of Europe, according to International Olympic Committee protocol), and one of the top 30 surfers in the open division at the 2019 ISA World Surfing Games in Miyazaki, Japan.[24][25]
She represented Israel at the 2020 Summer Olympics and competed in the Women's shortboard in July 2021, at the Shidashita Beach, located about 40 miles (64 km) outside of Tokyo in Chiba, as she was released from her Israel Defense Forces service to compete in the Games.[26][27][28] Surfing with a bad hip injury, which later required surgery, she came in 17th.[27][26]
She said: "It’s an amazing event.... It’s so nice seeing how surfing connects everybody ... on one love that is surfing... Everybody is a person, it doesn’t matter if he has the flag of Iran behind his back... or the Israeli flag. It doesn’t matter because we are all surfers and it breaks all boundaries... I have friends from Fiji, Costa Rica, and Iran."[21]
2021–24
editHer hip injury ultimately necessitated hip surgery after the Tokyo Olympics, and Lelior then suffered an ankle injury that disabled her for six months.[5] Altogether, her two injuries kept her largely out of competitions for the two years.[8]
In August 2021 and 2022 Lelior won bronze medals in the Rip Curl Pro Anglet.[2][29]
In November 2022, Lelior won the silver medal in the Alaïa Open Winter Cup in Switzerland.[30] She also won the gold medal in women's surfing at the 2022 Maccabiah Games in Israel.[31]
In March 2024 Lelior came in 6th in the 2024 World Championships in Arecibo, Puerto Rico.[32] It was the best ranking ever by an Israeli surfer in the World Championships.[32] Lelior qualified for her second Olympic Games after her performance at the 2024 World Surfing Games.[33]
2024 Paris Olympics
editLelior represented Israel at the 2024 Paris Olympics in surfing in Women's shortboard, in Teahupo'o reef pass, Tahiti, French Polynesia.[33] In the first round (which was non-elimination), she came in second of three surfers in her heat.[34] In Round 2, which was direct elimination, she defeated Spain’s Janire Gonzalez-Etxabarri by a total heat score of 11.00 to 2.80.[35] In Round 3 she was defeated by Australia's Tyler Wright, and came in ninth.[36]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ a b "Pro Surfer: Anat Lelior". World Surf League. Retrieved December 3, 2019.
- ^ a b c d e f "Anat Lelior Surfer Bio - Women's Qualifying Series Event Results". World Surf League. April 3, 2024.
- ^ a b c d "Surfing sisters are making waves". From the Grapevine. Retrieved September 11, 2019.
- ^ a b c Anna Dimond (July 20, 2021). "Israeli surfer Anat Lelior's unlikely path to Tokyo". The Jerusalem Post.
- ^ a b c איפרגן, סתיו (March 30, 2024). "ריאיון מיוחד | הגולשת ענת ליליאור מכוונת גבוה לקראת פריז: "אפשר להביא מדליה"". Ynet.
- ^ a b c d e דסקל, גלי וולוצקי ואוריאל (October 8, 2015). "אחיות ים". כלכליסט.
- ^ "אחיות ים". October 8, 2015.
- ^ a b c ברטל, ליאור (March 18, 2024). "רוכבת על הגל לפריז: הגולשת ענת ליליאור הדהימה בדרך להופעה שנייה באולימפיאדה". דבר העובדים בארץ ישראל.
- ^ Jason Lock (Jul 17, 2024). "Olympics: Going Solo, With Anat Lelior," Surfline.
- ^ a b c d Dashel Pierson (June 10, 2021). "Introducing Anat Lelior, Israel's Olympic Surfing Darling". Surfline.
- ^ "Tokyo Olympics: All the Jewish Athletes to Watch". The Detroit Jewish News. July 7, 2021.
- ^ a b Skyler Wilder (November 1, 2019). "Israel's Surfing Soldier Qualifies Her Country for the 2020 Olympic Games". Adventure Sports Network. Retrieved December 3, 2019.
- ^ a b Burke, Owen James (January 23, 2020). "Meet the Olympic Surfer Currently Serving in the Israel Defense Forces". Surfer.
- ^ Anna Dimond (July 10, 2021). "Surfer Anat Lelior's lonely path to Tokyo Olympics from the beaches of Tel Aviv; Unlike standouts in places like California or Australia, growing up in Israel there were only a handful of other girls to surf against and she quickly ran out of competitors". The Times of Israel.
- ^ "גלישת גלים - אלטשולר שחם". as--invest-co-il.
- ^ Fraze, Jaime. "Competitors catch waves in France at international surfing contest". From the Grapevine.
- ^ Nicolas Leroy (May 20, 2018). "Justin Becret and Nadia Erostarbe Claim Junior Pro Biscarrosse Titles". World Surf League. Retrieved September 11, 2019.
- ^ "Anat Lelior Surfer Bio - Women's Junior Tour Event Results". World Surf League. April 3, 2024.
- ^ "Stairmand and Lelior win Burton Automotive Pro International Trials at Surfest". Surfest. March 10, 2019. Retrieved September 11, 2019.
- ^ "Anat Lelior and Andy Criere Claim 2019 Deeply Pro Anglet Titles". Surfers Magazine.
- ^ a b "Get to know Olympic-qualified surfers Ramzi Boukhiam and Anat Lelior," Olympics.com.
- ^ "Anat Lelior and Andy Criere win 2019 Deeply Pro Anglet". Magic Sea Weed. Retrieved September 11, 2019.
- ^ "WATCH: Israeli Olympic Surfer Honored with Her Own Barbie Doll". United with Israel. March 15, 2020.
- ^ טובול, יואב (July 8, 2021). "לא יורדת מהגל: ענת ליליאור מוכנה לאולימפיאדה". Ynet.
- ^ "World's Top Women Approach Gold Medals, Capture Olympic Qualification in Miyazaki". International Surfing Association. September 9, 2019. Archived from the original on November 17, 2019. Retrieved September 15, 2019.
- ^ a b Amy Spiro (July 4, 2024). "Tel Aviv to Tahiti: Surfer Anat Lelior aims to ride Olympic waves to new heights; Unlike the rest of Israel’s delegation to the 2024 Games in Paris, the two-time Olympian will be heading to French Polynesia, hoping to improve on her performance in Tokyo," The Times of Israel.
- ^ a b "Anat LELIOR," Olympics.com.
- ^ "Sharing Tubes And Hummus In The Middle East's Surfing Jewel: Israel". Stab Mag. November 29, 2022.
- ^ "Results for Anat Lelior at Rip Curl Pro Anglet Women's 2022". World Surf League. July 14, 2024.
- ^ "Michel Roque and Janire Gonzalez Etxbarri claim Alaïa Open Winter Cup". Wave Pool Magazine. November 8, 2022.
- ^ "Surfing - Maccabiah 21". maccabiah.com.
- ^ a b "ענת ליליאור סיימה במקום השישי באליפות העולם בגלישת גלים ישראל היום". Israel HaYom. April 21, 2024.
- ^ a b "World Surfing Games 2024: Nine surfers pick up Paris 2024 tickets on seventh day of competition". Olympics. Retrieved March 4, 2024.
- ^ Kyle Frankel (July 28, 2024). "Surfing Round 2 preview: Big names with their backs against the wall," NBC Olympics.
- ^ "Anat Lelior from Israel moves on to Round 3," Olympics.com.
- ^ "Israeli surfer Anat Lelior loses in round 3 heat, ending her Olympic run," The Times of Israel.
External links
edit- Anat Lelior at the World Surf League
- Anat Lelior at BoardRiding.com
- Anat Lelior at Olympedia
- Anat Lelior at Olympics.com
- Anat Lelior at the Olympic Committee of Israel (archived) (in Hebrew)
- Anat Lelior at The-Sports.org
- Anat Lelior on Instagram