Seventeen-year-old Anastasia Gorbenko made history for Israeli women by winning the gold medal in the European swimming championships for the first time ever. It’s the second gold medal for Israel overall. The competition took place in Budapest and secured Gorbenko’s spot to participate in the Tokyo Olympics this summer.
Gorbenko swam the 200-meter individual medley, finishing in 2 minutes, 9 seconds, and 99 milliseconds, beating her own best record. In 2018, the young swimmer competed at the Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires and won gold with a time of 2 minutes, 12 seconds, and 88 milliseconds.
Gorbenko was born and raised in Haifa, Israel, where her parents emigrated from Ukraine. She has been winning gold medals since she started competing in 2016 in the Maccabiah Games.
