Inbar Lanir
Israeli judoka (born 2000)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Inbar Lanir (Hebrew: ענבר לניר; born 3 April 2000) is an Israeli Olympic silver medalist judoka and 2023 world champion.[5] She competes in the under 78 kg weight category. She also won a bronze medal in the mixed team event at the 2020 Olympic Games. In addition to winning the 2023 world championship, she won gold medals at the 2023 World Masters and the 2023 Ulaanbaatar Grand Slam. Lanir competed for Israel at the 2024 Summer Olympics, and won the silver medal in the women's 78 kg, while she also represented Israel in the mixed team event, in which Team Israel came in ninth. As of November 2024, Lanir is the top ranked Israeli judoka.[6]
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Early and personal life
Lanir was born in Yokneam Illit in northern Israel and later moved with her family to Yehud, Israel, and is Jewish.[7][8] Her mother Michal is an architect and former judoka, while her father Ronen is a project manager.[1][9][10][11] In her early years, Lanir practiced ballet and floor artistic gymnastics prior to her judo training.[1][9] She feels that ballet helped her in judo a great deal, as it trained her in movement.[8] Lanir received the status of outstanding athlete from the Israel Defense Forces and served as an HR NCO.[11] At 18 years of age Lanir moved to the Wingate Institute where she trained ever since.[8]
Judo career
2016–18; Israeli U21 Champion
Lanir won the silver medal in the 2016 European Cup Cadets in Antalya, Turkey, and a bronze medal in 2016 European Cup Cadets in Zagreb, Croatia.[5] She won the gold medal in the 2016 Israeli U21 Championships in Ra'anana.[5]
Lanir won bronze medals in the 2017 European Cup U21 in Athens, Greece, and in the 2017 European Cup Cadets in Ploiesti, Romania.[5] She won the silver medal in the 2017 Israeli Championship in Ra'anana.[5]
Lanir won the silver medal in the 2018 Israeli Championship in Tel Aviv.[5]
2019–21; European U23 Champion
Lanir won bronze medals in the 2019 European U21 Championships in Vantaa, Finland, and the 2019 European U23 Championships in Izhevsk, Russia.[12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19] She won the gold medal in the 2019 Israeli Championship in Tel Aviv.[5]
Lanir won the 2020 European U23 Championships in Poreč, Croatia, and won the bronze medal in the 2020 European Junior Championships, in Poreč.[20][21][22][23] She won the gold medal in the 2020 Israeli U21 Championships in Ra'anana.[5]
In the 2021 World Championships in Budapest, Hungary, Lanir placed 7th after winning her first two matches, losing in the quarterfinal and the repechage.[24][25] That same year Lanir won a silver medal at the 2021 Baku Grand Slam, and bronze medals in the 2021 Paris Grand Slam, the 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Slam, the 2021 Tashkent Grand Slam, and the 2021 Tbilisi Grand Slam.[26][27][28][29][30][5] She won the gold medal in the 2021 Israeli Championship in Ra'annana.[5]
2020 Tokyo Olympics (in 2021); bronze medal
Lanir represented Israel at the 2020 Summer Olympics, competing at the women's 78 kg weight category. In her first match, she beat Mongolian Otgony Mönkhtsetseg with an 18 seconds ippon. In the round of 16, she lost to the Brazilian former two-time world champion, Mayra Aguiar, ending her part in the individual competition.[31][32][33][34] She won a bronze medal in the Olympic mixed team event.[35]
2022–present; World Champion
In 2022, Lanir won silver medals at each of the 2022 Ulaanbaatar Grand Slam in Mongolia,[36][37][38] 2022 Budapest Grand Slam,[39][40][41] and 2022 Zagreb Grand Prix.[42][43][44] She also won a bronze medal in her event at the 2022 Almada Grand Prix in Portugal.[45][46][47][48]
Lanir won the 2023 World Championship in Doha, Qatar.[8] She said: "I am happy to dedicate the medal to the residents of the south [of Israel], who are going through a difficult time, to the soldiers of the Israel Defense Forces and to the entire State of Israel. It was so important for me to do something good in such complex and difficult days."[8]
Lanir also won the 2023 World Masters in Budapest, and the 2023 Ulaanbaatar Grand Slam.[49][50][51][52][53][54] Following that, Lanir was chosen by the European Judo Union as that year's European Athlete of the Year.[55][56] She won a bronze medal at the 2023 European Championships in Montpellier, France, a silver medal at the 2023 Tokyo Grand Slam, and a bronze medal at the 2023 Tbilisi Grand Slam.[5] She won the gold medal in the 2023 Israeli Championship.[5]
Lanir won a bronze medal at the 2024 European Championships in Zagreb.[5]
2024 Paris Olympics; Silver medal
Lanir won the silver medal in the women's 78 kg representing Israel at the 2024 Summer Olympics. She beat Mongolia’s Otgonbayaryn Khüslen in the round of 16, the Netherlands’ Guusje Steenhuis in the round of 16, and Germany’s world champion Anna-Maria Wagner in the semifinal match, before losing to Italy’s Alice Bellandi in the gold medal match.[57] She also represented Israel in the mixed team event, in which Team Israel came in ninth.[58]
2025
Lanir won a silver medal at the 2025 Paris Grand Slam. She lost in the final match to Patrícia Sampaio from Portugal.
Titles
| Year | Tournament | Place | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | Grand Slam Tashkent |  | [26][27] |
| Grand Slam Tbilisi | | [29][30] | |
| Grand Slam Paris | | [60][61][62] | |
| Grand Slam Baku |  | [63][64] | |
| Grand Slam Abu Dhabi | | [65][66][67] | |
| 2022 | Grand Prix Almada | | [46][47][48] |
| Grand Slam Ulaanbaatar | | [36][37][38] | |
| Grand Slam Budapest | | [39][40][41] | |
| Grand Prix Zagreb | | [42][43][44] | |
| 2023 | Grand Slam Tbilisi | | [68][69][70] |
| World Championships |  | [71][72][73][74] | |
| Grand Slam Ulaanbaatar | | [49][50][51] | |
| World Masters | | [52][53][54] | |
| European Championships | | [75][76][77] | |
| Grand Slam Tokyo | | [78][79][80] | |
| 2024 | European Championships | | [81][82][83] |
| Olympic Games | | [84][85] | |
| 2025 | Grand Slam Paris | | [86][87][88] |
| Grand Slam Tashkent | | [89] |
