Israeli triathlete competes in Saudi Arabia
Israeli competes in Saudi Arabia
(Times of Israel)
LAST Sunday, triathlete Shachar Sagiv became the first Israeli athlete to compete in Saudi Arabia, according to the Israeli Olympic Committee, in the latest sign of growing informal ties between the former enemy states.
Sagiv competed in the Saudi city of Neom on the same day that Israeli junior women’s tennis player Isabell Bilaus played Saudi opponent Yara Al-Hogbani in a tournament in Bahrain.
Israeli Olympic Committee head Yael Arad called Sagiv’s presence at the Saudi Neom leg of the Super League Triathlon “a very significant breakthrough”.
“In the past year, we’ve seen many Arab states come to terms with the fact that hosting an international tournament means hosting Israelis,” Arad said in a statement.
“This is a growing trend, and the true force in normalisation between nations, and especially people.”
A Saudi official did not respond to a request for comment.
Sagiv, 28, was eliminated from the race after falling in the bike ride.
BASKETBALL
Honour for Abdul-Jabbar
NBA legend and social activist Kareem Abdul-Jabbar won the first annual Ally Against Antisemitism Award, presented on October 25 in Toronto, by the Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Centre.
In his acceptance speech, Abdul-Jabbar echoed his recent blog post, that strongly condemned the repeated antisemitic comments made by rapper Kanye West.
“The principal lesson is we can never stop being vigilant, and leave bad things to fester,” Abdul-Jabbar said.
TENNIS
Very good in Vienna
DENIS Shapovalov hasn’t had much to celebrate in the ATP Tour this year, but last week the 23-year-old Israeli-born Canadian was a finalist in Vienna.
As a result, he rose three spots to a men’s singles world ranking of 16.
Shapovalov defeated the likes of world number 11 Taylor Fritz, Dan Evans, and Borna Coric.
And he took the first set off Daniil Medvedev in the final, before the world number 3 fought back to win in three sets.
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