Elham Mahamid Ruzin

Elham Mahamid Ruzin (, ; born 16 February 1990) is an Israeli silver medalist Paralympic goalball player and former captain of the Israel women's national goalball team for eight years, from 2010 to 2018.

Mahamid Ruzin is a Muslim Arab Israeli. She is legally blind, with the hereditary genetic eye disease achromatopsia, color blindness, and a very intense sensitivity to daylight. In 2015, as she competed for it, Team Israel won the gold medal at the IBSA World Games. She competed for Israel at the 2016 Rio Paralympics in Brazil, won a bronze medal with the team at the 2017 European Championship, and then won a silver medal with the team at the 2019 European Championship. She then competed with Israel at the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics in 2021 in Japan.

She competed for Israel at the 2024 Paris Paralympics in the Women's goalball tournament, where Mahamid Ruzin and Team Israel won a silver medal.

Early and personal life Mahamid was born in the Galilee in the Arab Muslim city of Umm al-Fahm, Israel, and is a Muslim Arab Israeli. She is the eldest daughter of six children.

Mahamid Ruzin is legally blind, and was diagnosed as a child with the hereditary genetic eye disease achromatopsia, color blindness, and a very intense sensitivity to daylight. The disease does not have a cure, and she wears special glasses. She and her husband have a boy and a girl, and the family lives in Hadera, Israel.

Goalball career

Mahamid Ruzin's coach is Raz Shoham.

Mahamid Ruzin first played goalball at a blind club in Um al-Fahem when she was 15 years old, and took part at an after-school program at the Jewish Institute for the Blind.

2015–16; World Games championship and Rio Paralympics In 2015, as Mahamid competed for it, Team Israel won the gold medal at the IBSA World Games. Team Israel defeated China 4–1 in the final, as Mahamid Ruzin scored all four of the team's goals. It ensured its spot at the 2016 Summer Paralympics, and Mahamid Ruzin said: "I will do everything to make my country, my relatives, and the Arab sector proud, showing that there is no difference between all of us and that we can live together."

She competed for Israel at the 2016 Rio Paralympics, where the team was eliminated in the quarter-finals and came in 7th place.

2024–present; Paris Paralympics Mahamid Ruzin competed for Israel at the 2024 Paris Paralympics in the Women's goalball tournament, where she and Team Israel won a silver medal. The team defeated Canada in the quarter-final and China (with her scoring the winning goal) in the semi-final, and lost to Turkey in the gold medal round.

Awards Mahamid Ruzin was named the 2021 Para-Athlete Peace Prize Global Winner by the Religious Freedom & Business Foundation.