My Paralympic Memory: Noam Gershony
Israelian wheelchair tennis player Noam Gershony tells us about his Paralympic memory, in particular his gold medal in the Quad Singles at the London 2012 Paralympics. He also won a bronze in Quad Doubles with Shraga Weinberg.
"I was overwhelmed by the whole atmosphere and the experience. I remember, I was looking at the video of the actual ceremony just a few days ago and there was a moment of disbelief that I actually did it because obviously, I didn’t expect to win the gold medal. So I’m looking at the medal and I’m laughing to myself with a bit of disbelief, and then they played the national anthem and it was a lot more emotional.
They showed it in Israel on TV and one of my friends texted me from Israel after the ceremony, saying, “You are such a good actor, I almost believed you were really crying!” That was the funniest, I laughed out loud, I wasn’t fake crying it was just an amazing moment.
Playing in the Paralympics was, for me, a once-in-a-lifetime experience. You play all the other tournaments and you get back each year to play in the same tournament and obviously, you have good memories and good experiences, but the Paralympics is just something else. It’s only once every four years and it was my first time playing in London and in such a huge event, so it was very different. For me, the Paralympics was the peak of my tennis career, definitely.
Competing for a medal… it’s an enormous amount of pressure which I’m not used to. There is a lot of pressure before every match because you know if you lose you will not get the chance to be able to compete again for this type of honour for the next four years.
It’s not like I wake up and say, “Wow, amazing, look at me, I’m a Paralympic medal winner,” but it is something that I can say was the most amazing experience. Other than surviving the helicopter crash I was involved in, which I don’t remember, I can say that winning the gold medal in the Paralympics was definitely No. 1.
Today I give motivational talks. I volunteer for youth at risk, I participate in big fundraising events for the Jewish community in Israel and abroad - sharing my story, sharing my road from the hospital bed to the London Paralympics, to the gold medal. Definitely, I think it helped me put things a little bit more in perspective because everything is different after the medal.
My advice to young players is: regardless if you win or not, I think that the way to competing in the Olympics or Paralympics is something you really need to learn to appreciate and to enjoy. It doesn’t matter if you win the gold medal, silver or bronze, the experience is by far the most important thing. Do your best in your way, but don’t just think about winning a medal because most will not win a medal. You have to enjoy and appreciate the experience".