Oren Smadja
 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Native name | אורן סמדג'ה | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Nationality | Israeli | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | June 20, 1970 Ofakim, Israel | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Occupation | Judo coach | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Country |  Israel | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | Judo | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight class | –71 kg, –78 kg | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rank | 7th dan black belt[1] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Now coaching | Israel national judo team | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Achievements and titles | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Olympic Games |  (1992) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| World Champ. | 
(1995) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| European Champ. | 
(1992) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Profile at external databases | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| IJF | 53539 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| JudoInside.com | 2767 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Updated on 5 June 2023 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Shay-Oren Smadja (Hebrew: אורן סמדג'ה; born 20 June 1970) is an Israeli judo coach and former competitive judoka. Smadja won an Olympic bronze medal in 1992 Summer Olympics, making him the first Israeli male to win an Olympic medal and the second Israeli overall after Yael Arad who won silver in judo the day before.[2]
Career
[edit]Smadja was born in Ofakim, Israel, to a family of Tunisian Jewish descent. He won an Olympic bronze medal in judo at the 1992 Summer Olympics at the under 71 kg category.[3] In 1995, he won a silver medal at the 1995 World Judo Championships. The next year, he could not repeat his Olympic success when participating at the 1996 Summer Olympics.[4]
Smadja was nominated as the national coach of the Israeli men's judo team in 2010. [5]
Smadja coached several Israeli judokas including Or Sasson, winner of the bronze medal in the 2016 summer olympics (men 100kg+), Sagi Muki, who won gold medals at the 2015 European Games (men -73kg) [6] and the 2019 World Judo Championships in Tokyo (men -81kg), Peter Palcthik, winner of the bronze medal in the 2024 summer olympics (men -100kg).[7]
Smadja is the first Israeli man to win an Olympic medal both as an athlete and as a coach.[citation needed]
Achievements
[edit]| Year | Tournament | Place | Weight class | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990 | World Juniors Championships | 2nd | Lightweight (71 kg) | [8] |
| 1992 | Olympic Games | 3rd | [9] | |
| European Judo Championships | 3rd | [10] | ||
| 1995 | World Judo Championships | 2nd | Half middleweight (78 kg) | [11] |
| European Judo Championships | 7th | [12] |
Personal life
[edit]Smadja is married to Liat and the couple had two sons and a daughter. They live in Ganot Hadar. In 2024, his son Omer, a reservist soldier in the Israel Defense Forces, fought and fell in action in the Gaza Strip during the Israel-Hamas war.[13]
Media Appearances
[edit]In 2008, Smadja competed in the 4th season of Israel's Rokdim Im Kokhavim ('Dancing with the Stars'), where he was eliminated 3rd (out of 12 couples). [14]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ "IJF Dan Grades Awardees" (PDF). International Judo Federation. p. 3. Archived from the original (PDF) on 18 February 2023. Retrieved 18 February 2023.
- ^ "Sporting heroes for 60 years: No. 25 Oren Smadja". The Jerusalem Post. 10 April 2008.
- ^ "Judo: Olympic Games: Men: -71 kg". Sports 123. Retrieved 4 July 2015.
- ^ Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Shay-Oren Smadja". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020.
- ^ https://www.maariv.co.il/culture/literature/Article-988416
- ^ "Israeli judoka wins silver medal at the European Championship". i24news.
- ^ Ifergan, Stav (2 August 2024). "Meet Israel's two new judo Olympic medalists". Ynetnews. Retrieved 5 August 2024.
- ^ "1990 World Juniors Championships". JudoInside.com. Retrieved 11 May 2021.
- ^ "1992 Olympic Games". JudoInside.com. Retrieved 11 May 2021.
- ^ "1992 European Championships". JudoInside.com. Retrieved 11 May 2021.
- ^ "1995 World Championships". JudoInside.com. Retrieved 11 May 2021.
- ^ "1995 European Championships". JudoInside.com. Retrieved 11 May 2021.
- ^ 'May they all come home': Son of Israeli Judoka Oren Smadga killed in Gaza after father's birthday
- ^ מירב, קריסטל (22 April 2008). "לוהקה העונה הרביעית של "רוקדים עם כוכבים"" (in Hebrew). Retrieved 17 August 2024.
External links
[edit]
- Oren Smadja at the International Judo Federation
- Oren Smadja at JudoInside.com
- Oren Smadja at AllJudo.net (in French)
- Oren Smadja at Olympics.com
- Oren Smadja at Olympedia
- Oren Smadja at The-Sports.org
- Oren Smadja at databaseOlympics.com (archived)
- Oren Smadja on X
Gold medalists  | |
|---|---|
Silver medalists  | |
| Bronze medalists | |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
  | This biographical article related to Israeli judo is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
 | This article about an Israeli Olympic medalist is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
- 1970 births
- Living people
- Israeli male judoka
- Judoka trainers
- Olympic judoka for Israel
- Olympic medalists in judo
- Olympic bronze medalists for Israel
- Judoka at the 1992 Summer Olympics
- Judoka at the 1996 Summer Olympics
- Medalists at the 1992 Summer Olympics
- Israeli Mizrahi Jews
- Israeli people of Tunisian-Jewish descent
- People from Ofakim
- Israeli judo biography stubs
- Israeli sportspeople stubs
- Asian Olympic medalist stubs