Moran Samuel clinched first place in the 2,000-meter PR1 rowing final on Sunday, crossing the finish line in 10:25.40 minutes. Leading from start to finish, Samuel delivered a flawless performance. This marks her third consecutive Paralympic medal, following a bronze in Rio and silver in Tokyo.
Samuel, 42, entered the final after setting a new Paralympic record of 9:58.02 minutes in the qualifiers. Despite a slower time today, she still emerged victorious.
A life-altering moment
Samuel’s career is a testament to her resilience. Originally a basketball player for Israel's national team, her path changed drastically at age 24 when a congenital vascular malformation in her spine left her paralyzed from the chest down. "I went to sleep like any other day after practice," she once recalled, "and woke up with extreme back pain. It was a spinal stroke, something very rare."
Undeterred, Samuel worked to rebuild Israel's women's wheelchair basketball team, leading them to the European Championship five years later. She also excelled with the men’s team at Tel Aviv's Beit Halochem and competed in European tournaments.
In 2010, Samuel began rowing and soon realized her potential for the London Paralympics, where she finished fifth. This was the start of a string of successes, including a gold medal at the 2015 World Championships in the 1,000 meters.
Balancing personal and professional life
Outside of sports, Samuel holds a bachelor's degree in physiotherapy and a master's in early childhood education from the University of Haifa. She works as a pediatric physiotherapist and has been married for 12 years to Limor Goldberg, whom she met through the Paralympic Committee. The couple has three children, and Samuel gave birth to their son Rom during her preparation for the Paris Games. Just five months after giving birth, she won a silver medal at the World Championships.
Samuel is also active in social causes, participating in the Athena project to empower women in Israeli sports and recently publishing a children's book, My Grandma and Me, dedicated to a relative who passed away at a young age.