Eliot reaches for his target
‘I had a scare … that doesn’t happen very often’…and with that, the No.1 Maccabiah seed gave a ringing endorsement of the talents of 19-year-old Australian Eliot Vogel’s display at the archery where he finished a fantastic fifth.
Vogel, who took up archery after he suffered a serious concussion playing rugby earlier in his teens, took two points of Israeli’s top player and was within a whisker of taking him to a shootout with him.
Eliot Vogel
But, therein lies the fickle nature of a sport like archery.
“Here there are a lot of things that cross your mind: did you eat right, have you slept enough, are you tired?
“It’s 40 degrees out in the sun. You’ve got your bow in your hand, you’ve got to think about your technique, your form and you’ve got seven seconds where the only thing to think about is your shot. Here, staying concentrated is very difficult. If one stray thing crosses your mind … your arrow is not going to be accurate. Especially not at 70 metres…The only thing that has to cross my mind is: ‘is that the perfect shot'”
To do that, Vogel gets into almost a zen like state before each attempt and is a picture of calm and clarity with a very deliberate and soothing routine.
But still …
“In the end looking next door and seeing the single rank player, the wind started going crazy, shot the arrow, just missed out.”
Vogel not only wants to come back in four years better than now after his “fantastic experience”, but, if things go according to plan, he’ll also have represented Australia in mainstream competition by then.
Inspirational
For some, the stress of not having integral equipment for your competition just days before it begins would derail a Maccabiah dream. But Baral believes that the silver medal now draped around her neck means that much more because of the ordeal she faced in finally earning it.
“I think it proves that I can overcome adversity and just keep going and go even better maybe than I would have gone before. As soon as I got the poles I was so excited and I think that excitement has built over the last couple of days. I think because I didn’t have the poles that definitely added to it.”
Lizzie Baral
Despite only completing one training session prior to her event, the new Maccabiah silver medallist felt surprisingly confident going into her jumps.
“I only had the one session on them [her poles] but it was a really good session and I jumped high heights and was feeling really good. I felt pretty confident heading in, very refreshed. I was excited, I’d done what I needed to do before I left Sydney and it was just about building on it and getting that confidence back once I had the poles.”
The Aussie jumped a personal best 3.75m on her way to silver, bettering her previous mark by 5cm, and was over the moon with her performance. Baral was beaten by an Israeli vaulter, but was ecstatic to have now improved her PB by 15cm this athletic season after plateauing for three years.
“I’m really excited to have finally jumped another PB. I had about three years where I was staying at the same height. It shows that I’m getting back up there and I’m really happy with that result after all the drama that happened with the poles.”
Baral won silver in the junior pole vault at Maccabiah in 2013 and is thrilled to have transitioned into the open category and repeated her medal heroics this time around.
“I guess the standard is higher but I’ve improved a lot over the past four years. I’m so happy to be back in Israel and winning my 4th Maccabiah silver. It’s such a great experience and I’ve met so many pole vaulters from around the world which really made the competition for me!”
Congratulations on your silver medal Lizzie!
Our most successful golf squad ever
Quite simply – Our greatest golf result of all-time.
All four teams depart with medals:
– Open Men: Bronze (Jeremy Fuchs, Shane Feldman, Trevor Sidley, Danton Stoloff, Jason Rubinstein, David Cohen, Matt Nabarro, Zac Winograd)
– Men’s Masters : Silver (Roy Vandersluis, Giora Friede, Stevan Lambert, Joe Dorfman, John Dalley)
– Grand Masters: Bronze (Bart Doff, Stephen Wagen, Graeme Shulman, Alan Goldstone, Gary Snow)
– Ladies Masters: Silver (Tracy Silbert, Lorelle Krulis, Annette Landes, Margot Sacks, Jody Drutman)
Individual:
– Open Men: Jeremy Fuchs (7th overall), Jason Rubinstein (9th overall), Shane Feldman (13th overall)
– Open Men: Trevor Sidley – Nett Gold Medal
– Masters Men: Giora Friede – Bronze Medal (Beat Roy Vandersluis in a playoff)
– Masters Men: Joe Dorfman – Nett Silver Medal
– Grand Masters: Bart Doff – Gold Medal
– Ladies Masters: Tracey Silbert – Nett Gold; Lorelle Krulis – Nett Bronze
Special Recognition in honour of his 11th Maccabiah: Roy Vandersluis
