British teen lands national win in Israel

A British Oleh to Israel has been crowned Israel’s U16 National Floor Tumbling Gymnastics Champion.

Matan Pearlman, 14, is a former North West London Jewish Day School pupil and claimed gold at the annual competition’s finals held in Ra’anana.

He said: “To take the U16 National Championship while not yet 15 may even give me the chance to skip the next category and go straight into the junior competitions.”

Looking ahead, he added: “From there I can hopefully look towards European or World Championships. While right now it’s a great honour just to represent my family, my club and my city, the chance to represent Israel on the national stage would be a dream come true.”

He added: “Gymnastics is not only about training and competing in a sport that I love, it has given me the opportunity to dive into Israeli society and meet and make friends with people from all over the country and from different backgrounds.”