worst race score is thrown out) In the last race on August 25, 2004, Fridman finished a hard-fought 2nd, exploiting a tactical mistake made by Brazilian leader Ricardo Santos and beat Greek windsurfer Nikolaos Kaklamanakis in order to end the Olympic Regatta with the lowest score, (42 points) thus earning the 2004 Olympic gold medal in Windsurfing. Olympic Sailing events scores are tabulated with the lowest score (best results combines) winning. Fridman won Israel's first Olympic gold medal. Fridman dedicated his medal to the memory of the 11 Israeli athletes assassinated by members of the Black September organization during the 1972 Summer Olympics. Final results 1st- Gal Fridman – Israel (Gold Medal) 2nd- Nikolaos Kaklamanakis – Greece (Silver Medal) 3rd- Nick Dempsey – Great Britain (Bronze Medal) 4th- Ricardo Santos – Brazil 5th- Przemysław Miarczyński – Poland 2008 Summer Olympics, Beijing, China Approaching the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Fridman found it hard to adjust to the new Olympic Windsurf board model, the RS:X Neil Pryde windsurfer. Also he had some crucial equipment failures at key Olympic trail regattas and failed to qualify for the 2008 Israeli Olympic Sailing Team. Shahar Tzuberi took his place and went on to win the 2008 Olympic bronze medal for Israel. Later years Fridman, an avid cyclist, won a gold medal in the Israeli cycling championship in 2005. In 2007, he won the Men's Windsurfer New Year International Regatta in Limassol, Cyprus. After 2008, Fridman retired from competition in windsurfing and focused on coaching up and coming Israeli Windsurfers. He guided Nimrod Mashiah to the silver medal in the 2009 World Championship. In June 2005, his Bronze and Gold Olympic Medals were stolen, with only the Gold Medal recovered from the robbery. Fridman currently coaches Israel's top windsurfers preparing for the 2016 RIO Summer Olympics and currently owns a SUP Company. (Stand-Up-Paddle Board) and is involved with helping the SUP Company "Starboard" with SUP R&D and can be found giving motivational speeches worldwide. Hall of Fame In 2005, Fridman was named to the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame. Achievements See also List of Olympic medalists in sailing List of World Championships medalists in sailing (windsurfer classes) List of Jews in sports Israel at the Olympics Sports in Israel References External links Gal Fridman at the Jewish Agency for Israel (archived) Gal Fridman at the Jewish Virtual Library Gal Fridman Achieves Olympic Glory, video at the