Israeli Champion Shooter Takes Aim at Olympics’ Antisemitism
“I will never participate in a competition without Israeli symbols on my suit,” vowed Sergy Rikhter after refusing to bow to pressure from antisemitic Indonesian competition hosts.
By United with Israel Staff
An Israeli Olympic shooter named Sergy Rikhter is standing up for Israel on the international stage, refusing to let antisemitic decrees silence Jewish symbols.
Rikhter recently announced he won’t compete in the World Cup because he was barred from wearing “Israeli symbols” in Indonesia, the host country. Rikhter received news of the demand a mere day before he was set to leave for the tournament.
The competition in question is the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) World Cup Rifle & Pistol, held in Jakarta, Indonesia. It is not only the first of four major tournaments in 2023, it is a qualifying competition for the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.
Rikhter is a championship shooter, winning a gold medal at the 2019 European Games and competing at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo.
“I will never accept to participate in a competition without [Israeli symbols] on my competition suit, on my personal rifle, and on the results screen,” he recently explained to Alliance magazine, a French publication cited by the UK’s Jewish Chronicle (JC).
Rikhter was commenting on the policy of ISSF organizers, who told him he couldn’t display the Israeli flag on his rifle or uniform. Instead, they told Rikhter he could only compete displaying ISSF symbols or the International Olympic Committee’s flag.
“I do not understand how the Olympic movement approves the holding of international competitions and the brands identification of the countries the athletes represent,” commented Rikhter. “I start the most important year on the way to Paris when my opponents take a professional advantage over me due to political problems.”
“If the Olympic movement, which advocates the existence of sports without distinctions of nationality, religion, race, and sex, does not support its ideology, then what is its value? … If there was a competition in Israel and we boycotted a country – oh my God – all the athletes would have gotten up and gone in a counter-protest,” concluded Rikhter.
Indonesia is a Muslim-majority country with no formal ties with Israel. It rejected the Jewish state’s overtures in 2016 establish diplomatic relations, citing allegiance to Palestinians as Jakarta’s rationale.
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