Steinberg Wins World Championship, Kantor Takes Silver in Windsurfing

Israeli windsurfer Tamar Steinberg has been crowned world champion in the iQ Foil class, marking an unprecedented achievement for Israeli sailing. Her teammate Sharon Kantor secured the silver medal, making it a dominant one-two finish for Israel at the event. Daniela Peleg finished fourth in the final race, while Shahar Tobi concluded the competition in tenth place.

In the men's competition, Tom Reuveny, the Olympic champion from Paris, faced a setback. After winning his quarterfinal and semifinal races, he was set to advance to the final. However, a race restart due to an organizers' issue saw Reuveny finish third in the rescheduled semifinal, narrowly missing a spot in the final and ultimately placing fifth overall. Yoav Omer finished eighth.

Steinberg, 20, who was the reigning world runner-up and the recent European champion, dominated the competition from the start. She won seven of the sixteen preliminary races and led throughout the event. A single win in the medal race was enough to secure her gold.

Kantor, the 2024 world champion and Olympic silver medalist, had a different trajectory. Starting in 16th place, she steadily climbed the rankings through consistent performances, finishing in the top ten in 11 of her 16 races to secure the silver medal.

Steinberg expressed her elation, stating, "I wanted this for a long time and not everything you want really happens. Wow. I led most of the week, I came to this competition with one mission and went for it from the start. But with the medal races it is so difficult, anything can happen. I felt Kantor the whole race, she started better and we fought until the end. I am very happy for her, she is a teammate. We have such a good team. This final looked like the Israeli championship, just with Stella [bronze medalist] added. 2026 is a great year for me."