Israel’s Tom Reuveny won a sensational Olympic gold in the men’s iQFoil windsurfing final in Marseille on Saturday, while Sharon Kantor took silver in the women’s.

And artistic gymnast Artem Dolgopyat left behind a surprisingly subpar performance in the qualifying round to take second place in the finals, with his floor exercise scoring 14.966, just behind gold medalist Carlos Yulo of the Philippines at 15.000.

The three athletes’ medals sealed a new record for Israel with its fourth, fifth and sixth medals of the Paris Games in a single day, taking the country past its four medals at the Tokyo Games in 2021.

It was also the first time Israel has ever won three medals in a single day at the Games.

Reuveny’s win was a particular shock, as he had previously not even been expected to make it to the semifinals.

Israel’s two windsurfing medals were its first Olympic windsurfing medals since the Beijing Games in 2008. They were the first Olympic medals for Reuveny and Kantor.

Reuveny’s gold is Israel’s fourth ever, and first in the Paris games. It comes 20 years after his coach, Gal Fridman, won Israel’s first-ever gold medal at the 2004 Athens Olympics.

Kantor is the first female surfer to win an Olympic medal for Israel.

With Saturday’s three medal’s, Israel’s total across all Olympic games stands at 19.

“Look how many medals we’ve won!” said Kantor after nabbing the silver. “First in Judo and now here. It’s incredible.”

“I did it for our brave soldiers,” Reuveny told Channel 12 after taking the gold.

Sailing is Israel’s second-most decorated sport, after Judo. Israel’s Judo team won three medals in the Paris Games.

In the men’s contest, Reuveny beat Australia’s Grae Morris, who won silver, and Luuc van Opzeeland of the Netherlands, who landed bronze. Kantor finished six seconds behind Italy’s Marta Maggetti, while Britain’s Emma Wilson landed the bronze.

Reuveny, 24, of Rosh Ha’ayin, was born to a British mother and Israeli father. He began sailing at age eight.

He previously took fourth place in the 2022 iQFoil World Championships and before that won gold and bronze medals at the RSX Youth World Championships in 2017 and 2016, respectively. He took the bronze at the 2023 World Cup, and finished eighth in this year’s World Championships, making him the highest-qualifying Israeli surfer.

“I think I was the dark horse and nobody expected [me to win],” Reuveny told Channel 12. “In the semifinal, I was afraid to finish fourth or fifth, and that’s happened to me in the past, but I gave it my all and did everything.”

Kantor, 21, of Moshav Avihayil, near Netanya, was born to immigrant parents from Australia and South Africa, and began surfing at age 10. In February, she won a gold medal at the iQFoil World Championships, after a year earlier winning silver at the European Windsurfing Championships.

In iQFoil windsurfing, the sailors fly off the water at high speed, the boards lifted by a foil.

Olympic sailing regattas in Marseille started on Sunday. They have been plagued by high heat and fickle winds, which forced the first medal races in the men’s and women’s skiffs to be postponed to Friday.

The windsurfing quarterfinals, semifinals and medal races were all pushed to Saturday. Each race only lasts about 10 minutes or less, with athletes pushing speeds well above 20 knots (37 kph or 23 mph).

Gymnast Dolgopyat finished second in the final of the men’s floor exercise in artistic gymnastics, winning silver and picking up Israel’s third Olympic medal of the day.

Dolgopyat finished first at the previous Olympics, making him the first Israeli athlete to win medals at consecutive games.

Dolgopyat, 27, was a heavy favorite for a medal ahead of the games. He was born in Ukraine and immigrated in 2009 at the age of 12, when he was already a contest-winning gymnast.

He has won multiple gold and silver medals at world and European championships. Last year he gave Israel its first-ever world gymnastics gold medal after winning the men’s floor final in Antwerp, Belgium. That contest took place on October 7, just as the harrowing Hamas attacks unfolded.

Earlier on Saturday, Team Israel in judo ended its medals run in the Olympic group competition in the round of 16 against Team France in a 0-4 loss.

The team, which won a bronze in the group competition in Tokyo, has now finished its judo competitions.