Yael Arad celebrated an unprecedented victory in 1992 when she won the Olympic silver medal for judo, making her the first Israeli Olympic medalist for any sport. Arad began taking judo classes at age eight, and within six months ranked second in Israel for her weight class. She won her first international title match in 1987 and won three consecutive European championships from 1989–1991. Because of the shortage of serious competitors, she trained with the coach of the men’s Olympic team. While she narrowly missed earning the gold medal in 1992, she dedicated her silver medal to the memory of the slain athletes of the Munich Olympics and returned home a national hero. Since her historic win, she has pushed for women’s greater participation in sports in Israel. She served as judo coach for Israel’s 2000 Olympic team and went on to become a sports commentator for judo competitions.