Ofir Netzer

Ofir Netzer (born 13 May 1996) is an Israeli artistic gymnast and the 2018 FIG World Challenge Cup series champion and 2017 Maccabiah Games champion on vault.

Ofir Netzer
Full name	Ofir Netzer
Country represented	Israel
Born	13 May 1996 Moledet, Israel
Residence	Mallorca, Spain
Discipline	Women's artistic gymnastics
Level	Senior International Elite
Club	Club Esportiu Xelska Hapoel Emek Hayarden
Head coach(es)	Pedro Mir Homar
Former coach(es)	Boris Kinev (d. 2018)
Medal record Representing  Israel FIG World Cup 2018 Szombathely Vault Maccabiah Games 2017 Jerusalem Vault

Early life

Netzer was born in Moledet, Israel. She was a soldier in the Israel Defense Forces but held a special status for outstanding athletes that enabled her to serve close to home so that she could continue training and travel overseas when needed.[1]

Gymnastics career

2013

Netzer competed at the 2013 Cottbus World Cup in March where she qualified to the vault final and finished in seventh place. In April she competed at the 2013 European Artistic Gymnastics Championships where she once again qualified to the vault final. She finished fourth behind Giulia Steingruber of Switzerland, Noel van Klaveren of the Netherlands, and Larisa Iordache of Romania.[2] She later competed at the 2013 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships but finished thirteenth in vault qualifications and failed to qualify to the finals.[3]

2014

In 2014, Netzer tore her ACL during training.[4]

2015

Netzer returned to competition in March and competed at the Cottbus World Cup where she finished thirteenth in vault qualifications and did not make the finals.[5] In April she competed at the Ljubljana Challenge Cup where she placed eighteenth in vault qualifications and once again failed to make the finals.[6] She later competed at the 2015 European Artistic Gymnastics Championships. She finished fifteenth in vault qualifications and did not make the final.[7]

2017

Netzer competed at the Sainté Gym Cup in March 2017 where Israel finished seventh in the team final.[8] In April she competed at the Stella Zakharova Cup where she finished twelfth in the all-around, seventh on uneven bars, fifth on balance beam, and eighth on floor exercise.[9] She later competed at the 2017 European Artistic Gymnastics Championships where she finished 63rd in the all-around qualification and did not qualify to any individual events.[10] In May Netzer competed at the Koper Challenge Cup and the Osijek Challenge Cup but failed to qualify to any event finals. In July she competed at the 2017 Maccabiah Games where she placed eighth in the all-around, first on vault, and fifth on floor exercise.[11] In September Netzer competed at the Varna Challenge Cup where she placed fourth on vault behind Rebeca Andrade of Brazil, Shallon Olsen of Canada, and Teja Belak of Slovenia.[12] Later that month she competed at a Dutch Invitational where she placed tenth in the all-around and fourth on vault.[13] In October she competed at the 2017 Artistic Gymnastics World Championships. During qualifications she placed sixty-first in the all-around and thirty-sixth on vault. She did not qualify to any event finals.[14]

2018

In May 2018 Netzer competed at the Osijek Challenge Cup where she finished twelfth in vault qualification.[15] She later competed at the Koper Challenge Cup where she placed fourth on vault behind Steingruber, Denisa Golgota of Romania, and Tjasa Kysselef of Slovenia.[16] In July Netzer competed at the Israeli Championships where she won gold on every event.[17] In August she competed at the European Championships but failed to qualify for any event finals.[18] In September Netzer competed at the Szombathely Challenge Cup where she placed first on vault, earning her first gold medal at a FIG World Cup.[19] A few weeks later Netzer competed at the Paris Challenge Cup where she placed fourth on vault.[20] Due to her first place finish in Szombathely and her fourth place finishes in Koper and Paris, Netzer won the 2018 World Challenge Cup series on vault.[21] Netzer was later selected to represent Israel at the 2018 World Championships alongside Meitar Lavy.[22] During qualifications Netzer placed 19th on vault and did not qualify to the finals.

In late 2018, Netzer's longtime coach, Boris Kinev, died[23] after being sick for months.[24]

2019

In early 2019, Netzer relocated to Palma de Mallorca, Spain to train full time under Spaniard Pedro Mir after being unable to find a new coach in Israel.[25][26][27] Her first competition in 2019 was the Baku World Cup.[28] She finished 11th in the vault qualifications, 16th on uneven bars, 21st on balance beam, and 16th on floor exercise. She did not qualify to any event finals.[29]

In June Netzer competed at the European Games, where she qualified to the vault final. During the final she performed a handspring front tuck full and a Tsuk layout full and she finished fifth.[30]

In August Netzer tore her ACL and therefore missed competing at the 2019 World Championships and was unable to qualify herself a spot for the 2020 Summer Olympics.[31]

Competitive history

Year	Event	Team	AA	VT	UB	BB	FX
2013	Cottbus World Cup			7
	European Championships			4
2017	Sainté Gym Cup	7
	Stella Zakharova Cup		12		7	5	8
	Maccabiah Games		8				5
	Varna Challenge Cup			4
	Dutch Invitational		10	4
2018	Koper Challenge Cup			4
	Israeli Championships
	Szombathely Challenge Cup
	Paris Challenge Cup			4
2019
	European Games			5

References

1. "Ofir Netzer Interview: Her Rise, Her Fall and Her Return". Israeli Gymnastics. 11 March 2015. Archived from the original on 13 December 2015.
2. "2013 European Championships Results". The Gymternet. 21 April 2013.
3. "2013 World Championships Results". The Gymternet. 6 October 2013.
4. "NETZER Ofir". fig-gymnastics.com. Retrieved 24 September 2018.
5. "2015 Cottbus World Challenge Cup Results". The Gymternet. 20 March 2015.
6. "2015 Ljubljana Challenge Cup Results". The Gymternet. 3 April 2015.
7. "2015 European Championships Results". The Gymternet. 15 April 2015.
8. "2017 Sainté Gym Cup Results". The Gymternet. 26 March 2017.
9. "2017 Stella Zakharova Cup Results". The Gymternet. 3 April 2017.
10. "2017 European Championships Results". The Gymternet. 20 April 2017.
11. "2017 Maccabiah Games Results". The Gymternet. 10 July 2017.
12. "2017 Varna Challenge Cup Results". The Gymternet. 1 September 2017.
13. "2017 Dutch Women's Invitational Results". The Gymternet. 9 September 2017.
14. "2017 World Championships Women's Results". The Gymternet. 12 October 2017.
15. "2018 Osijek Challenge Cup Results". The Gymternet. 29 May 2018.
16. "2018 Koper Challenge Cup Results". The Gymternet. 4 June 2018.
17. "2018 Israeli Championships Results". The Gymternet. 12 September 2018.
18. "2018 European Championships Results". The Gymternet. 6 August 2018.
19. "Two Golds For Israel At Szombathely World Cup". Gymnovosti. 23 September 2018.
20. "2018 Paris Challenge Cup Results". The Gymternet. 30 September 2018.
21. "Gymnasts from 7 nations win World Challenge Cup Series titles". FIG. 1 October 2018.
22. "Excitement Mixed With Worry – Israeli Team Is Off to Worlds". Gymnovosti. 18 October 2018.
23. @cherity1313 (16 November 2018). "Ofir Netzer's coach passed away" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
24. "Israel's Netzer: 'Every Step Of Progress Gives Me More Motivation'". International Gymnast. 11 June 2018.
25. "La nueva vida de Ofir Netzer en Mallorca". Última Hora (in Spanish). 19 February 2019.
26. @cherity1313 (10 January 2019). "Ofir Netzer will now train in Spain full time" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
27. "FIG Restricts Nationality Changes". Gymnovosti. 14 January 2019.
28. @cherity1313 (11 March 2019). "Ofir Netzer is going to Baku with her new coach" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
29. "2019 Baku World Cup Results". The Gymternet. 17 March 2019.
30. "2019 European Games Results". The Gymternet. 30 June 2019.
31. "Around the Gymternet: Back in the 90s". The Gymternet. 26 August 2019.

External links

• Ofir Netzer at the International Gymnastics Federation
• Ofir Netzer on Twitter
• Ofir Netzer on Instagram