Michelle Smith ninth in the preliminary swims with only the top eight advancing. Smith did not submit her qualifying time for the 400m freestyle event before the 5 July deadline but did so two days later with the Irish Olympic officials insisting they had been given permission to submit the qualifying time after the deadline. Smith applied for the event after she had arrived in Atlanta. After Smith qualified at the expense of Evans, the US Swimming Federation, supported by the German and Netherlands swimming teams, challenged a decision to allow Smith to compete but were unsuccessful. At a later conference, Evans
Sport in Israel Israel is chaired by Hamad Amar, an Israeli Druze member of the Knesset. Nili Block is a world champion kickboxer and Muay Thai fighter. Judo is one of the three sports in which Israeli athletes have won Olympic medals. In 2013, Yarden Gerbi won a gold medal at the Judo World Championships, and in 2016 she won a bronze medal at the Olympics. Other notable Israeli judokas include: The Israel Motor-Sport Association was founded in 1990. It has organised rally, autocross, rallycross and drag racing competitions. Auto racing was legalized in 2011. A 1.5 km permanent racetrack was opened in