Golan Pollack (Hebrew: גולן פולק; born 10 September 1991 in Yehud, Israel) is an Israeli Olympic judoka.[1] who competed in the half lightweight (under 66 kg) weight category.
Pollack won a bronze medal in the 2015 World Championships[2] and represented Israel at the 2016 Summer Olympics. He is 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in) tall, and weighs 66 kg (146 lb)[3]
Judo career
Pollack won a gold medal at the 2009 Maccabiah Games in the 66 kg division.[1]
At the 2011 World Championships, Pollack reached the quarterfinals, where he was defeated by Miklós Ungvári of Hungary. At the 2012 Summer Olympics, Pollak lost in the first round to David Larose of France.[4]
Pollack won the European Open in Sofia in 2014.[1] On 5 December, Pollack won a silver medal at the 2014 Tokyo Grand Slam.[5][6]
On 25 August, Pollack won a bronze medal at the 2015 World Championships in Astana, Kazakhstan after defeating Davaadorjiin Tömörkhüleg of Mongolia.[2][7][8] During that day he also beat Georgii Zantaraia of Ukraine, ranked number one in the world.[8] He became the sixth Israeli to win a medal at the World Judo Championships, joining Yael Arad (1991, bronze; 1993, silver), Oren Smadja (1995, silver), Ariel Ze'evi (2001, silver), Alice Schlesinger (2009, bronze), and Yarden Gerbi (2013, gold; 2014, silver).[8]
Pollack won a silver medal at the 2016 Düsseldorf Grand Prix, losing in the final to world champion An Ba-ul of Korea.[9][1][10]
Pollack represented Israel at the 2016 Summer Olympics in judo, competing in the men's 66 kg event where he was ranked 6th.[11] After receiving a first-round bye, he was eliminated by Zambia's Mathews Punza.[11] His coach, former Olympic medalist Oren Smadja, said: “Golan used a move he shouldn’t have used and doesn’t usually use. The move doesn’t even have a name. It’s a move where you try to surprise your opponent by falling on your back on the mat, but it risks a lock, which is exactly what happened to Golan. Golan lost to himself, and his opponent got a gift."[11] Pollack left the match in tears, and collapsed to his knees, hiding his face.[11] He said: “I’m very disappointed, especially after all the long way I’ve come in the last four years.... I thank everyone for their support, and I’m sorry I’ve disappointed you.”[11]
Medals
Source:[12]
| Year | Tournament | Place | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | Grand Prix Düsseldorf |  |
[13] |
| Grand Prix Samsun |  |
[14] | |
| World Masters | |
[15] | |
| Grand Prix Ulaanbaatar | |
[16] | |
| 2014 | Grand Slam Baku | |
[17] |
| Grand Slam Tokyo | |
[5] | |
| 2015 | Grand Prix Zagreb | |
[18] |
| World Championships | |
[2] | |
| Grand Prix Jeju | |
[19] | |
| 2016 | Grand Prix Düsseldorf | |
[9] |
| World Masters | |
[20] |
References
- ^ a b c d "Golan Pollack, Judoka, JudoInside". Retrieved 7 August 2016.
- ^ a b c "2015 World Championships". ijf.org. Retrieved 17 January 2021.
- ^ "POLLACK Golan". Archived from the original on 6 August 2016. Retrieved 7 August 2016.
- ^ Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Golan Pollack". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 4 December 2016.
- ^ a b "2014 Grand Slam Tokyo". ijf.org. Retrieved 17 January 2021.
- ^ Judo, Grand Slam Tokyo: tanto Giappone, poker di ori (in Italian)
ג'ודו: כסף לגולן פולק בגראנד סלאם בטוקיו (Hebrew) - ^ Israeli Judoka Golan Pollack Wins Bronze at World Judo Championship Haaretz 08-25-2015
- ^ a b c "Israel's Golan Pollack fights for late bronze at Worlds". 26 August 2015. Retrieved 7 August 2016.
- ^ a b "2016 Grand Prix Düsseldorf". ijf.org. Retrieved 17 January 2021.
- ^ "Judo: Golan Pollack won a silver medal in Dusseldorf". Retrieved 7 August 2016.
- ^ a b c d e "Tough Day for Israeli Judo as Two Team Members Are Knocked Out of Contention". Haaretz.
- ^ "Golan Pollack — Tournament results". ijf.org. Retrieved 17 January 2021.
- ^ "2013 Grand Prix Düsseldorf". ijf.org. Retrieved 16 January 2021.
- ^ "2013 Grand Prix Samsun". ijf.org. Retrieved 17 January 2021.
- ^ "2013 World Masters". ijf.org. Retrieved 17 January 2021.
- ^ "2013 Grand Prix Ulaanbaatar". ijf.org. Retrieved 17 January 2021.
- ^ "2014 Grand Slam Baku". ijf.org. Retrieved 17 January 2021.
- ^ "2015 Grand Prix Zagreb". ijf.org. Retrieved 17 January 2021.
- ^ "2015 Grand Prix Jeju". ijf.org. Retrieved 17 January 2021.
- ^ "2016 World Masters". ijf.org. Retrieved 17 January 2021.
External links
- Golan Pollack at the International Judo Federation
- Golan Pollack at JudoInside.com
- Golan Pollack at AllJudo.net (in French)
- Golan Pollack at Olympics.com
- Golan Pollack at the Olympic Committee of Israel (archived) (in Hebrew)
- Golan Pollack at Olympedia
- Golan Pollack at The-Sports.org
