Baruch Shmailov

Baruch Shmailov (ברוך שמאילוב; born 2 September 1994) is an Israeli Olympic judoka. He competes in the under 66 kg weight category, and won a gold medal in the 2022 World Masters in Jerusalem. Shmailov also won a bronze in the 2017 World Masters, as well as a silver at the 2018 World Masters. As of December 2022, Shmailov was ranked #3 in -66 kg weight category. He competed for Israel at the 2020 Summer Olympics, finishing in fifth place in the individual competition and winning a bronze medal in the mixed team. He has reached a high world ranking of third in 2019, 2022, and 2024. Shmailov will represent Israel at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris in judo in the men's 66 kg event on 28 July 2024, and in the mixed team event.

Early life
Shmailov grew up in Hadera, Israel, and is Jewish. He was raised by his mother Elza, a solderer in an electronics company. When he was 4 his parents divorced. At the age of 6 his mother sent him to practice jujutsu and karate, he also began to practice judo. When he was 11, during a training session in the judo club in Hadera, a former judoka and politician Yoel Razvozov came to visit. He recognized Shmailov's potential and recommended that he transfer to train at the famous Wingate Institute under better conditions, which he did the following year.

2013–15; European Junior Judo Champion
His coaches are Israeli former Olympic bronze medalist Oren Smadja, Artur Kataev, and Eran Vardi.

In 2013 he won the gold medal in the Israeli U21 Championships in Ra'anana in U66.

On September 19, 2014, at the age of 20, Shmailov took part in the Under 21 European Championship which was held in Bucharest, Romania, and won the gold medal after winning every match by ippon. A month later, he won the bronze medal in the under 66 kg category in the 2014 World U21 Championships in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, after losing the semi-final match to Japan's Hifumi Abe and defeating Ukraine's Bogdan Iadov in the bronze medal match. On November 14, at 20 years old he won the 2014 European U23 Championships in Wrocław, Poland, after defeating Andraž Jereb of Slovenia in the final. In 2014 he again won the gold medal in the Israeli U21 Championships in Ra'anana in U66.

Shmailov won his first medal in a senior competition when he won a silver medal at the 2015 Tbilisi Grand Prix on March 20 in Georgia. He defeated former world champion Georgii Zantaraia in the semi-final and lost to Mongolia's Tumurkhuleg Davaadorj in the final. On October 7, he took part in Israel's national championship and won the gold medal after he defeated Tohar Butbul in the final.

2016–19
In September 2016, Shmailov won the silver medal in the Zagreb Grand Prix in Croatia. On March 10, 2017, he won the bronze medal at the Baku Grand Slam in Azerbaijan, after defeating Nijat Shikhalizada of Azerbaijan in the medal match. Less than a month later he won the bronze at the 2017 Antalya Grand Prix in Turkey. On December 16, 2017, Shmailov took part in the prestigious World Masters which was held in St. Petersburg, Russia, and won the bronze medal after he defeated Brazil's Charles Chibana in the medal match.

On February 23, 2018, he won a bronze medal at the Düsseldorf Grand Slam in Germany after defeating Russia's Yakub Shamilov in golden score of the medal match when he managed to get a pinning hold on his opponent. Shmailov competed in the 2018 World Masters tournament in Guangzhou, China, and won the silver medal. In the quarter-finals he defeated then European champion Adrian Gomboc of Slovenia by ippon, in the semi-finals he defeated Daniel Cargnin of Brazil by ippon as well, and in the final lost to Joshiro Maruyama of Japan by ippon. In 2018 he also won the silver medal in the Grand Prix The Hague in the Netherlands, and bronze medals in the Grand Prix Zagreb in Croatia and the Grand Slam Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates.

In 2019 he won bronze medals in the Grand Slam Ekaterinburg in Russia and the Grand Slam Paris in France.

2020 Tokyo Olympics (in 2021); bronze medal
After a long contest with Tal Flicker, Shmailov was chosen to represent Israel at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo in the men's 66 kg weight category. In his first match, Shmailov beat Mozambique's Kevin Loforte by ippon. At the round of 16, he beat Australian Nathan Katz by waza-ari, advancing to the quarterfinals. There, he met former European champion Vazha Margvelashvili of Georgia, losing by ippon and turning to compete at the repechage for a chance to win a bronze medal. In his next match, Shmailov beat Slovenia's former European champion Adrian Gomboc, beating him by waza-ari in golden score and advancing to fight for the bronze. Shmailov lost the bronze medal match to Brazilian two-time Pan American champion Daniel Cargnin, finishing in fifth place in the individual competition, as he won a bronze medal in the mixed team.

2021–present
In 2021, Shmailov won the silver medal in his event at the World Masters held in Doha, Qatar.

Shmailov won the gold medal in his event at the 2022 Judo Grand Slam Tel Aviv held in Tel Aviv, Israel. He won the gold medal in the 2023 IJF World Masters Jerusalem in Israel in December. He underwent meniscus surgery in June 2023.

He won silver medals in the 2024 Grand Slam Tashkent in Uzbekistan and the 2024 Grand Prix Upper Austria Linz.

2024 Paris Olympics
Shmailov will represent Israel at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris in judo in the men's 66 kg event on 28 July 2024, and in the mixed team event.

Personal life
Shmailov is married to Bulgarian-born judoka Betina "Beti" Temelkova, who competed for Israel beginning in 2017.

Titles
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