Baruch Shmailov

Baruch Shmailov (; born 2 September 1994) is an Israeli retired 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 silver at both the 2018 World Masters and the 2021 World Masters.

Shmailov competed for Israel at the 2020 Summer Olympics, finishing in fifth place in the men's 66 kg event and winning a bronze medal in the mixed team event. He has reached a high world ranking of third in 2019, 2022, and 2024. Shmailov represented Israel at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris in judo in the men's 66 kg event (where he beat Morocco’s Abderrahmane Boushita in his first match, lost to Tajikistan’s Nurali Emomali in his round of 16 match, and came in 9th), and in the mixed team event in which Team Israel came in ninth.

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.

On 19 September, at the age of 20, Shmailov took part in the 2014 European Junior Championships 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 Juniors 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 14 November, 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 66 kg. He defeated former world champion Georgii Zantaraia in the semi-final and lost to Mongolia's Davaadorjiin Tömörkhüleg in the final. On 7 October, 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 10 March 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 16 December, Shmailov took part in the prestigious 2017 World Masters which was held in Saint Petersburg, Russia, and won a bronze medal Shmailov competed in the 2018 World Masters tournament in Guangzhou, China, and won the silver medal.

Shmailov won the gold medal in his event at the 2022 Tel Aviv Grand Slam in Israel. As of December 2022, Shmailov was ranked #3 in 66 kg weight category.

Shmailov won silver medals in the 2024 Tashkent Grand Slam in Uzbekistan and the 2024 Linz Grand Prix in Austria. Shmailov gave a special thanks to team coach Oren Smadja, "who made the really difficult decision to come here" just a few weeks after his son Omer was killed while fighting with the IDF in Gaza. "He’s a symbol of resilience for the entire country. Oren is a national symbol... the fact that he’s here gives huge significance to the athletes. We knew he would come, no matter what."

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

Titles Sources:

2021