An Israeli woman has not stood on the podium since judo player Yael Arad won a silver medal at Barcelona in the women's half middleweight.

That kick-started a period during which Israel have won at least one medal at each Games since then, including at Athens in 2004 when Gal Fridman won the gold medal in the men's sailboard, making him the country's first Olympic champion.

"We are going to the Games to win and in order to win you have to set tough criteria," Olympic Committee of Israel (OCI) General Secretary Efraim Zinger said.

"We have three targets: One, to remain among the medal winning nations; two, to have a female medal winner for the first time since 1992; and three, to win a medal in a sporting event we have yet to win at."

Most Israeli athletes will need to finish in high positions in European or World championships to book a place in London and will have 18 months to do so, beginning on January 1, Zinger said.

In athletics, for example, the sportsmen will need to reach the semi-finals of the Worlds or record an A-level result in a specified event.

Israel's swimmers will also need to meet a similar criterion, while judo players for instance, will need to be ranked among the world's top-20 to reach the Olympics.


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