The Olympic Games Paris 2024 Cycling

The modern Olympic Games have been held every four years since 1896, except during the two World Wars in 1916, 1940 and 1944. The Olympic Games are the largest event in the world, and not just in sports.

The Paris 2024 Olympic Games will open on July 26, 2024 and conclude on August 11, 2024. This will be the third time that the French capital has hosted the summer Olympics; the previous times were in 1900 and in 1924.

Paris 2024 will mark the 18^th time that Israel has sent a delegation of athletes, since their first appearance in Helsinki 1952.

Israel won its first Olympic medals at the 1992 Games in Barcelona and its first gold medal in Athens 2004.

Israel’s Olympic medalists are:

Yael Arad, judo – silver, Barcelona 1992; Oren Smadja, judo – bronze, Barcelona 1992; Gal Fridman, windsurfing – bronze, Atlanta 1996 and gold, Athens 2004; Michael Kolganov, kayaking – bronze, Sydney 2000; Arik Zeevi, judo – bronze, Athens 2004; Shahar Tzuberi, windsurfing – bronze, Beijing 2008; Yarden Gerbi, judo – bronze, Rio de Janeiro 2016; Ori Sasson, judo – bronze, Rio de Janeiro 2016; Artem Dolgopyat, artistic gymnastics - gold, Tokyo 2020; Linoy Ashram, rhythmic gymnastics - gold, Tokyo 2020; Avishag Semberg, taekwondo – bronze, Tokyo 2020; Israel National Judo Team – bronze, Tokyo 2020.

Cycling

Cycling is the third largest sport of the summer Olympic Games, as far as the number of medals awarded and the number of participants.

The sport was included at the first modern Olympics in Athens in 1896. Cycling includes events in four different fields, awarding 66 Olympic medals: track (veledrome), road, mountain and BMX.

Henry Ohayon and the late Itzhak Ben David were the first cyclists to represent Israel, at the Rome 1960 Olympic Games, competing in road cycling. Fifty-six years later, Israeli cycling returned to the Rio de Janeiro Games in 2016 led by Shani Bloch Davidov, the first Israeli female Olympic road cyclist and Shlomi Haimy, the first Israeli to compete in the mountain-cycling event. Two Israeli cyclists participated in the Tokyo 2020 Olympics as well – Shlomi Haimy in his second Olympic appearance and Omer Shapira who competed in the road cycling event and the time trial race. Shapira was a serious contender, placing 24^th in the road event and 15^th in the time trial race.

A record number of Israeli cyclists will participate in Paris 2024, including a first appearance in the popular track event.

To all philatelic items issued on May  2024