Avishag Semberg

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Avishag Semberg
Semberg in 2020
Personal information
Birth nameAvishag Semberg
NationalityIsraeli
Born (2001-09-16) 16 September 2001 (age 22)
Gedera, Israel
Sport
CountryIsrael Israel
SportTaekwondo
Weight class49 kg / 53 kg[1]
ClubSharabi Martial Arts
Coached byYechiam Sharabi
Achievements and titles
Olympic finalsBronze (2021)
World finals5th (2022)
Regional finalsSilver (2022)
Medal record
Representing  Israel
Women's taekwondo
Olympic Games
Bronze medal – third place 2020 Tokyo 49 kg
European Championships
Silver medal – second place 2022 Manchester 49 kg
European Championships OWC
Gold medal – first place 2020 Sarajevo 49 kg
World Junior Championships
Bronze medal – third place 2016 Burnaby 46 kg
European U21 Championships
Bronze medal – third place 2019 Helsingborg 49 kg
European Junior Championships
Bronze medal – third place 2017 Larnaca 46 kg
Semberg (left) at the 2018 Summer Youth Olympics

Avishag Semberg (or Abishag Samberg,[2][3] Hebrew: אבישג סמברג; born 16 September 2001) is an Israeli taekwondo athlete.[4] She was an Olympic bronze medalist for Israel at the 2020 Summer Olympics in the women's 49 kg competition. She won Israel's all-time tenth Olympic medal, and is the youngest Israeli to receive an Olympic medal, at the age of 19.

Early life[edit]

Semberg was born and raised in Gedera, Israel, just south of Rehovot, to Israeli parents of Ashkenazi Jewish and Moroccan Jewish descent, Oren Semberg and Nili Cohen-Semberg.[5][6] Her father is a lawyer.[7]

In 2015, at 13.5 years of age Semberg participated in the third season of the Israeli The Kids' Channel reality game show The Boys and The Girls (HaBanim VeHaBanot), and was the ninth-eliminated contestant, the last one right before the finale where her girl teammates have won.[8]

Semberg was conscripted to the Israel Defense Forces in 2020, serving as a soldier with the Home Front Command, where she was designated an "Outstanding Sportswoman" and allowed time off to train and compete.[6][9][10] She had an honorable discharge in November 2021 after completing her military enlistment.[1][11][12]

She trains at the Sharabi Martial Arts club in Ramla, Israel, where Semberg resides as well, coached by Israeli trainer Yechiam Sharabi.[13]

Career[edit]

Semberg trains under Yechiam Sharabi in his martial arts club.[14]

Semberg started taekwondo in first grade as she attended a 40-minute after-school program.[15] In sixth grade, she became a member of the Israel National Team.[16]

In 2013, Semberg won a gold medal in the Israel Cadets Open in the 37 kg weight class in Ashdod, Israel, and in 2015 she won a gold medal in the Israel Cadets Open in the 44 kg weight class in Ramla, Israel.[17]

In 2016 Semberg won a bronze medal at the youth World Taekwondo Championships in Burnaby, Canada, in the 46 kg weight class.[17]

In 2017 she won a bronze medal in the European Youth Championships in the 46 kg weight class in Larnaca, Cyprus.[17] That year she also won a gold medal in the Israel Senior Open in the 46 kg weight class in Ramla, Israel.[17]

In 2018, Semberg was scheduled to compete for Israel at the 2018 World Junior Championships in Tunisia.[18] Tunisian authorities said they would only allow the Israelis to compete if their uniforms did not feature any Israeli national symbol or insignia, and that the Israeli anthem would not be played for any Israeli winners.[19] Despite the fact that the Israeli team agreed, the Tunisian government then denied them visas, asserting that the Israelis' application forms weren’t received in time.[20]

On 8 October 2018 she placed fifth at the Girls' 49 kg competition in the 2018 Summer Youth Olympics in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Also that year, she won a gold medal in the 2018 Polish Youth Open in the 49 kg weight class in Warsaw, Poland.[17] In 2019 she won a bronze medal in the European Junior Championships in Helsingborg, Sweden, and gold medals in the Israel Senior Open and the Riga Senior Open, in the 49 kg weight class.[17]

In 2020 she won a gold medal in the European Clubs Senior Championships in Zagreb, Croatia, in the 49 kg weight class.[17]

In May 2020 she won all 12 of her bouts in the European Taekwondo Olympic Qualification Tournament in Bulgaria, and qualified for the 2020 Olympic Games.[21]

She won the gold medal in the women's -49kg category in the 2020 European Taekwondo Championships in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina.[22]

2020 Summer Olympics – Olympic bronze medal[edit]

On 7 May 2021 Semberg qualified for the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan, by winning the gold medal in the 2021 European Taekwondo Olympic Qualification Tournament.[23][24][17]

Competing in the women's 49 kg for Israel at the 2020 Summer Olympics, on its opening day Semberg beat Puerto Rican Victoria Stambaugh 22-2 in the qualification round, before losing to Thai 2015 and 2019 world champion and eventual gold medalist Panipak Wongpattanakit in the round of 16.[25][26] With Wongpattanakit progressing to the final, Semberg got to compete in the repechage, where she beat 8th-seeded Trương Thị Kim Tuyền from Vietnam 22-1 to qualify for the bronze medal match against Turkey's 2010 and 2018 European Champion Rukiye Yıldırım, whom Semberg beat, 27–22, earning Israel's first Olympic medal (all-time, tenth) in the 2020 Summer games, and first in taekwondo.[27][28][29] Semberg was also the youngest Israeli to win an Olympic medal, at age 19.[30] Upon returning to her hometown she spoke at an event in her honor, saying: "I want to send a message to young girls and boys who are training or are thinking of training that anything is possible. Sometimes I doubted myself and said, ‘I’m just a girl from Gedera, can I really be at the top?’ So yes, you can be at the top, you just need to dream big and dream of it every day."[31]

2021-present[edit]

In May 2022, Semberg won the silver medal in the European Championships.[32]

In March 2024, she competed at the European Taekwondo Qualification Tournament.[33]

Semberg has qualified to represent Israel at the 2024 Summer Olympics in the women's -49 kg category.[34]

Personal life[edit]

Semberg is in a relationship with Israeli taekwondo athlete Nimrod Kravitzky since 2019.[35]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b "השנה הבועטת שלי: אבישג סמברג לוחמת על | ישראל היום". 10 November 2023.
  2. ^ "Taekwondo SEMBERG Abishag". 2020 Summer Olympics. Archived from the original on 25 July 2021. Retrieved 9 November 2021.
  3. ^ Ganor, Tomer (7 April 2018). "Israelis barred entrance to Tunisian taekwondo World Junior Championships". Ynetnews. Retrieved 25 July 2021.
  4. ^ "LA LUCHADORA DE TAEKWONDO ISRAELÍ AVISHAG SAMBERG GANÓ LA MEDALLA DE ORO EN EL CAMPEONATO DE EUROPA". itongadol.com. 24 November 2020. Archived from the original on 24 November 2020. Retrieved 7 May 2021.
  5. ^ [1]
  6. ^ a b "Instagram". www.instagram.com. Archived from the original on 25 December 2021. Retrieved 25 July 2021.
  7. ^ Oren Semberg. המותר והאסור ברשתות חברתיות
  8. ^ "Along with Gal Gvaram: Medalist Avishag Samberg has participated in reality shows in the past". Middle East in 24 Sport English. 25 July 2021.
  9. ^ "מרשים: אבישג סמברג זכתה באליפות אירופה בטאקוונדו". הארץ. Retrieved 25 July 2021.
  10. ^ "כוכבי והכוכבת".
  11. ^ "Avishag Semberg TKD on Instagram: "מ ש ו ח ר ר ת !!!🥳 לא מאמינה שהרגע הזה הגיע, אחרי שירות שהתחיל בטירונות במחנה 80 והמשיך לשירות סדיר כרלשית בפיקוד העורף היום אני מסיימת עוד פרק בחיים שלי. השירות שלי לא היה רגיל ובמיוחד לפני האולימפאידה לא היה לי הרבה זמן בבסיס, ואין ספק שהיה מאוד קשה לשלב בין האימונים לתפקיד שלי בצבא, אבל שמחה שהצלחתי לעשות את זה והאמת שנהנתי. חוויתי המוןןןן, נפגשתי עם הרמטכל(פעמיים!), עשיתי מלא תורניות מטבח (סבלתי מכל שנייה😂), שמירות, טסתי לארצות הברית דרך אירגון הFIDF במטרה לגייס כסף לחיילים, אחרי טוקיו עשיתי הרצאות לקצינים (והאמת שזה היה ממש נחמד🙊) ובאמת עוד המון המון המון! היו מלא רגעים שהייתי צריכה לוותר על אימונים וקצת התבאסתי אבל אני הכי שמחה בעולם שבסוף הצלחתי לשלב בין השניים. תודה על תקופה מדהימה ❤️"".
  12. ^ "גזרה את החוגר: אבישג סמברג השתחררה מצה"ל". 24 November 2021.
  13. ^ "TaekwondoData". TaekwondoData. Retrieved 25 July 2021.
  14. ^ [2]
  15. ^ [3]
  16. ^ [4]
  17. ^ a b c d e f g h "TaekwondoData". TaekwondoData.
  18. ^ [5]
  19. ^ [6]
  20. ^ [7]
  21. ^ [8]
  22. ^ [9]
  23. ^ "Tokyo taekwondo tickets on offer in Sofia". Tokyo 2020. Archived from the original on 15 July 2021. Retrieved 7 May 2021.
  24. ^ "Taekwondo, Preolimpico Europeo Sofia: Simone Alessio vola a Tokyo! Tutti i qualificati della prima giornata". OA Sport (in Italian). 7 May 2021. Retrieved 7 May 2021.
  25. ^ [10]
  26. ^ [11]
  27. ^ [12]
  28. ^ "2020 Summer Olympics — Taekwondo – Women -49kg Schedule". 2020 Summer Olympics. Archived from the original on 22 July 2021. Retrieved 22 July 2021.
  29. ^ "Draw sheet" (PDF). 2020 Summer Olympics. Archived from the original (PDF) on 30 July 2021. Retrieved 24 July 2021.
  30. ^ [13]
  31. ^ [14]
  32. ^ [15]
  33. ^ [16]
  34. ^ [17]
  35. ^ "Picture with boyfriend". www.instagram.com. Archived from the original on 13 September 2012. Retrieved 24 July 2021.

External links[edit]

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Avishag_Semberg&oldid=1219171806"