Lihie Raz

Lihie Raz
ליהיא רז‎
Raz at the 2023 Luxembourg Open
Personal information
Born (2003-09-14) 14 September 2003 (age 21)[1][2]
Manhattan, New York, U.S.
HometownRamat HaSharon, Israel
Gymnastics career
DisciplineWomen's artistic gymnastics
Country representedIsrael
LevelSenior International Elite
ClubMigvanim Ramat HaSharon
Head coach(es)Moran Klefner
Assistant coach(es)Shir Solomon, Ilan Gazit[3]
Medal record
Representing  Israel
Women's artistic gymnastics
European Championships
Bronze medal – third place 2020 Mersin Floor exercise

Lihie Raz (Hebrew: ליהיא רז; born 14 September 2003) is an Olympic artistic gymnast. Born in the United States, she represents Israel internationally. She won the bronze medal on the floor exercise at the 2020 European Championships, which was Israel's first medal at the European Women's Artistic Gymnastics Championships. She is also the 2019 and 2021 Israeli all-around champion. She represented Israel at the 2020 Summer Olympics and finished 59th in the all-around during qualifications, but did not advance to any finals. Raz represented Israel at the 2024 Paris Olympics, and came in 16th in the Women's vault, and 31st in the Women's All-Around qualification with a score of 51.632, just missing the final that had a cutoff of 51.698.

Early life

Raz was born in Manhattan in New York City to Israeli parents Tami and chef Nitzan Raz, is Jewish, and immigrated with them to Israel when she was three months old.[4][5][6][7][3][8] She grew up in Ramat HaSharon, a town just north of Tel Aviv.[3][6] She performed elite gymnastics while at the same time attending a regular high school.[9]

Career

Raz began gymnastics when she was six years old under coach Moran Klefner, who is still coaching her today.[10]

2017–18; Maccabiah Games gold

At the 2017 Maccabiah Games in Israel, Raz made her international debut. She won the gold medal in the junior floor exercise, with a score of 11.775.[11][12]

At the 2018 Israeli Cup, she won the junior all-around bronze medal.[13] Then at the 2018 Austrian Team Open in Linz, Raz helped the Israeli team place 14th, and individually, she placed 17th in the all-around.[14] At the Youth Olympic Games Qualifier in Baku, Azerbaijan, she placed 18th in the floor exercise and 26th in the all-around, and did not qualify for the 2018 Summer Youth Olympics.[15][16] At the 2018 Junior Israeli Championships, she placed fifth in the all-around.[17]

On July 14, 2018, in Izvorani [ro], Romania, Raz competed with the Israeli team in a friendly meet against Romania, and placed ninth in the all-around.[18] She competed for Team Israel at the 2018 Junior European Championships in Glasgow, Scotland, where the Israeli team finished 23rd.[19] She placed ninth with the Israeli team at the 2018 Olympic Hopes Cup in Liberec, Czech Republic.[20] Then at the 2018 Voronin Cup in Moscow, Russia, she placed 10th in the all-around, fourth on vault, sixth on the floor exercise, and eighth on the uneven bars and balance beam.[21]

2019; Israeli national champion

Raz made her senior international debut at the 2019 Austrian Team Open in Linz, where she won a silver medal in the vault behind Dutch Olympian Eythora Thorsdottir, and placed eighth in the all-around and fourth with the Israeli team.[22] Then at the 2019 Stella Zakharova Cup in Kyiv, Ukraine, she won the bronze medal on the floor exercise behind Ukrainian Olympian Angelina Radivilova and Malaysian Farah Ann Abdul Hadi, and placed fourth in the vault.[23]

She placed sixth in the vault final at the 2019 Osijek World Challenge Cup in Croatia.[24] At the 2019 Israeli Championships, she won her first national all-around title with a total score of 46.350, as she also won gold medals in the uneven bars and the floor exercise, and a silver medal in the vault.[25] Then at the 2019 World Championships in Stuttgart, Germany, she finished 82nd in the all-around which qualified her for the 2020 Olympics.[26][27]

2020–21; European Championships bronze and Olympics

At the 2020 European Championships in Mersin, Turkey, Raz won the bronze medal in the floor exercise event final with a score of 12.750 behind Turkey's Göksu Üçtaş Şanlı and Romania's Olympic bronze medalist Larisa Iordache.[28] This made her Israel's first-ever medalist at the European Women's Artistic Gymnastics Championships.[10][29] Additionally, she was the third reserve for the vault final, after finishing 11th in the qualification round.[30]

In February 2021, Raz won the bronze medal in the all-around, the gold medal in the vault, and the bronze medal in the all-around at the 2021 Israeli Winter Cup.[31] She won a bronze medal in the vault at the 2021 German Olympic Trials in Munich behind German national champion Sarah Voss.[32] She then qualified for the all-around final at the 2021 European Championships in Basel, Switzerland, and finished 22nd with a total score of 47.499.[33] She won her second national all-around title at the 2021 Israeli Championships.[34]

Raz then represented Israel at the 2020 Summer Olympics. She finished 15th in the vault with a score of 13.899, and 59th in the all-around during the qualification round with a total score of 50.399.[35][36]

2022; Maccabiah Games gold

Raz at the 2022 European Championships

Raz finished sixth on the vault and seventh on the balance beam at the 2022 Varna World Challenge Cup in Bulgaria.[37] Then at the 2022 Koper World Challenge Cup in Slovenia, she finished fourth on floor exercise, and seventh on uneven bars and balance beam.[38] At the 2022 Maccabiah Games in Israel, at 18 years old she helped the Israeli team win gold, and individually, she swept the gold medals in the women's open events, winning six in all.[39] In July she won the 2022 Israeli All-Around Championships in Tel Aviv.[40] She qualified for the vault final at the 2022 European Championships in Munich, Germany, and finished seventh.[41]

She was initially the first reserve for the vault final at the 2022 World Championships in Liverpool, United Kingdom.[42] After Jessica Gadirova withdrew due to an ankle injury, Raz competed in the final and placed eighth.[43][44]

2023; Luxembourg Open gold

Raz began the season at the 2023 Luxembourg Open, and won the gold medal in the vault final. The Israeli team finished third behind Italy and Spain, and Raz placed sixth in the all-around. She also finished fifth on floor exercise, seventh on uneven bars, and ninth on balance beam.[45] She competed at the 2023 European Championships but did not qualify for any finals.[46]

At the 2023 Tel Aviv World Challenge Cup, Raz finished sixth on vault and floor exercise, and eighth on balance beam.[47] Then at the RomGym Trophy in Bucharest, Romania, she placed sixth in the all-around and fifth in the uneven bars final.[48] She finished 48th in the all-around at the 2023 World Championships in Antwerp, Belgium, with a total score of 49.999.[49] Raz earned an individual berth as the 13th-highest placing eligible gymnast.[50]

2024; Paris Olympics

Raz represented Israel at the 2024 Paris Olympics. She came in 16th in the Women's vault, and 31st in the Women's All-Around qualification with a score of 51.632, just missing the final that had a cutoff of 51.698.[51][52][53]

Competitive history

Raz at the 2023 Luxembourg Open
Year Event Team AA VT UB BB FX
Junior
2017 Maccabiah Games 9 1st place, gold medalist(s)
2018 Israeli Winter Cup 3rd place, bronze medalist(s)
Austrian Team Open 14 17
Youth Olympic Games Qualifier 26
Israeli Championships 5
Izvorani Friendly 2nd place, silver medalist(s) 9
European Championships 23
Olympic Hopes Cup 9 24
Voronin Cup 10 4 8 8 6
Senior
2019 Austrian Team Open 4 8
Stella Zakharova Cup 8 10 4 3rd place, bronze medalist(s)
Osijek World Challenge Cup 6
Israeli Championships 1st place, gold medalist(s)
World Championships 82
2020
European Championships R3 3rd place, bronze medalist(s)
2021 Israeli Winter Cup 3rd place, bronze medalist(s)
European Championships 22
Israeli Championships 1st place, gold medalist(s)
Olympic Games 59
2022 Varna World Challenge Cup 6 7
Koper World Challenge Cup 7 7 4
Maccabiah Games 1st place, gold medalist(s) 1st place, gold medalist(s) 1st place, gold medalist(s) 1st place, gold medalist(s) 1st place, gold medalist(s) 1st place, gold medalist(s)
European Championships 7
World Championships 8
2023 Luxembourg Open 3rd place, bronze medalist(s) 6 1st place, gold medalist(s) 7 9 5
Tel Aviv World Challenge Cup 6 8 6
RomGym Trophy 6 5
World Championships 48
2024
Olympic Games R1

Awards

Raz was selected for Forbes Israel's 30 Under 30 list for 2021.[54]

See also

References

  1. ^ "RAZ Lihie".
  2. ^ "ליהיא רז" [Lihie Raz]. Olympic Committee of Israel. Archived from the original on 2 February 2022. Retrieved 2 February 2022.
  3. ^ a b c John Crumlish (28 January 2021). "Israel's Lihie Raz: 'I Did My Best To Channel The Pressure'". International Gymnast Magazine.
  4. ^ Harman, Danna (18 April 2012). "Super Israeli sushi chef makes waves across the globe". Haaretz.
  5. ^ Halili, Yaniv (3 July 2006). "Boiling point". Ynet.
  6. ^ a b Merrill, Mia (9 July 2021). "Meet the Jewish Gymnasts at the Tokyo Olympics". Alma. Archived from the original on 20 October 2021. Retrieved 2 February 2022.
  7. ^ אהרוני, אורן (16 April 2021). "סלטה לטוקיו: ליהיא רז מחכה לאולימפיאדה". Ynet.
  8. ^ Merrill, Mia J. (9 July 2021). "Meet the Jewish Gymnasts at the Tokyo Olympics". Hey Alma.
  9. ^ "Lihie Raz: Qualification to the Olympics is always at the back of your head". Gymnovosti. 6 October 2019.
  10. ^ a b Crumlish, John (28 January 2021). "Israel's Lihie Raz: 'I Did My Best To Channel The Pressure'". International Gymnast. International Gymnast Media. Archived from the original on 2 February 2022. Retrieved 2 February 2022.
  11. ^ Jesse Kitzen-Abelson (10 July 2017). "2017 Maccabiah Games Results". The Gymter.
  12. ^ Hopkins, Lauren (10 July 2017). "2017 Maccabiah Games Results". The Gymternet. Archived from the original on 2 February 2022. Retrieved 2 February 2022.
  13. ^ Hopkins, Lauren (23 February 2018). "2018 Israeli Winter Cup Results". The Gymternet. Retrieved 18 March 2024.
  14. ^ Hopkins, Lauren (23 April 2018). "2018 Austrian Team Open Results". The Gymternet. Retrieved 18 March 2024.
  15. ^ Hopkins, Lauren (23 June 2018). "2018 Youth Olympic Qualifier Results". The Gymternet. Retrieved 18 March 2024.
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  28. ^ "Lihi Raz wins first Israeli medal at 2020 European Women's Gymnastics; Raz secured her place for the 2021 Tokyo Olympic Games". The Jerusalem Post. 21 December 2021. Archived from the original on 10 November 2021. Retrieved 2 February 2022.
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  32. ^ "2021 German Olympic Trials Results". The Gymternet. 15 June 2021.
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  34. ^ Hopkins, Lauren (24 June 2021). "2021 Israeli Championships Results". The Gymternet. Archived from the original on 2 February 2022. Retrieved 2 February 2022.
  35. ^ "RAZ Lihie - FIG Athlete Profile". Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique.
  36. ^ "Artistic Gymnastics Women Qualification" (PDF). International Olympic Committee. 25 July 2021. Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 August 2021. Retrieved 2 February 2022.
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  38. ^ Hopkins, Lauren (21 June 2022). "2022 Koper Challenge Cup Results". The Gymternet. Retrieved 18 March 2024.
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  40. ^ "2022 Israeli Championships Results". The Gympternet. 19 July 2022.
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  43. ^ Carayol, Tumaini (6 November 2022). "Jessica Gadirova wins floor gold to cap successful world championship". The Guardian. Retrieved 18 March 2024.
  44. ^ "51st FIG Artistic Gymnastics World Championships Liverpool (GBR), 29 October - 6 November 2022 Women's Vault Final" (PDF). USA Gymnastics. International Gymnastics Federation. 5 November 2022. Retrieved 18 March 2024.
  45. ^ Hopkins, Lauren (18 February 2023). "2023 Luxembourg Open Results". The Gymternet. Retrieved 18 March 2024.
  46. ^ "10th European Men's and Women's Artistic Gymnastics Championships Women Artistic Gymnastics Qualification" (PDF). European Gymnastics. 13 April 2023. p. 5. Retrieved 18 March 2024.
  47. ^ Hopkins, Lauren (5 June 2023). "2023 Tel Aviv Challenge Cup Results". The Gymternet. Retrieved 18 March 2024.
  48. ^ Hopkins, Lauren (3 September 2023). "2023 RomGym Trophy Results". The Gymternet. Retrieved 18 March 2024.
  49. ^ "52nd FIG Artistic Gymnastics World Championships Antwerp (BEL), 30 September - 8 October 2023 Women's All-Around Qualification" (PDF). USA Gymnastics. International Gymnastics Federation. 1 October 2023. p. 2. Retrieved 18 March 2024.
  50. ^ "Rendez-vous Paris 2024: See who qualified to the women's team competition!". International Gymnastics Federation. 3 October 2023. Retrieved 25 February 2024.
  51. ^ "Israeli Olympic stars rounding into form in Paris," The Jerusalem Post.
  52. ^ Jo Gunston (October 2, 2023). "World Artistic Gymnastics Championships 2023", Olympics.com.
  53. ^ "The U.S. team and Simone Biles remain on top of the rankings, as women's qualifications conclude at Worlds". International Gymnast Magazine. 2 October 2023.
  54. ^ "Lihie Raz". Forbes Israel. Archived from the original on 18 January 2022. Retrieved 2 February 2022.