Shahar Tzuberi

Shahar became a national hero for Israel when he won the bronze medal in ‘Men's Windsurfing’ in the 2008 Olympic Games.

In an interview with Yediot Ahronot after the 2008 games, Shahar caused quite a controversy with his remarks about his Chinese hosts as he criticized their traditions, their food, and speech. Under pressure from government officials on both sides, he later apologized for his remarks.

Shahar was born on September 1, 1986 in the coastal town of Eliat. Located on the Red Sea, this provided the perfect place to learn windsurfing.

He was taught to surf by his father at the age of 6. During his younger years, he won several local surfing competitions and began to train professionally.

Shahar entered his first international competition in 2000. He received the silver medal at the ‘Windsurfing World Championship’ for boys. After this competition, he set his sights on the Olympics and began mastering the ‘Mistral Windsurfer’ which was used in the Olympics at this time.

Due to his training, he began to compete on larger stages. In 2002, he won the ‘Under-17 World Championships’.

In 2004, he competed at the ‘Youth World Championships’ in Bulgaria and won the silver medal. At this time, the Olympic sport changed surfboards to the Neil Pryse RS:X, which gave younger surfers a competitive edge as older surfers struggled to adapt.

In 2005, he joined the Israel Defense Forces. He trained at the Zikim base and was stationed at Eliat, as a quartermaster for the navy. He was also granted ‘Athlete of Excellence’ status, allowing him to continue his representation in international competitions.

In 2006, he was the first Israeli to compete using the Neil Pryde RS:X board and finished 1st. He beat his closest competition, the two-time Israeli Olympic medalist, Gal Fridman.

In 2008, he earned the bronze medal in the ‘Men's RS:X Windsurfing’ event at the ‘Beijing Olympics’. He was the only Israeli to win a medal at the Beijing games.

In 2009, he began his winning streak coming in first, in back to back European championships, in windsurfing.

In 2013, he competed in the ‘ISAF Sailing World Cup’ and took first place.