Lee Korzits

Early life Korzits was born in Hofit, Israel, to a Jewish family. Her mother is a swimmer and her father is a lifeguard. She grew up in the neighboring beach town of Michmoret, Israel, between Tel Aviv and Haifa. Her sister, Bar, and brother, Tom—who was her first coach, are both windsurfers.

Korzits represented Israel at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens at the age of 20. She later returned to Israel for rehabilitation and made a full recovery. Her string of serious injuries kept her from competing, and she eventually lost her spot on the Israeli Olympic team for the Beijing 2008 Games to teammate Ma'ayan Davidovich. She returned to sailing in 2010, claiming that the injury had motivated her to do what she loves most. Then in 2010 at the European Championships in Poland, a competitor knocked her off her board, she became unconscious and trapped in the water beneath her sail, and she came within 30 seconds of drowning. By winning the world title she became the first Israeli, male or female, to win two world titles at any sport. Readers of The Jerusalem Post voted her the 2011 Sports Personality of the Year. Still teary, she said: "I was proud to represent Israel. You can cry over a lost medal; there are more important things in life, like friendship."

She did not compete in the 2016 Olympics, due to her health issues.

Awards and recognition In 2017, Korzits was inducted into the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame.

Achievements