Nina Pekerman

Nina Pekerman was born in 1977 in Chișinău

Nina Pekerman was born in Chișinău, in Soviet Moldova, as a preterm baby. Her father, Michael, ran a transportation company and trained in martial arts, and her mother, Raissa, was an athlete and a draftsman. Nina trained in sport from childhood to gain strength, joining a swimming class at 10 and later a sport boarding school.

In 1994 she immigrated to Israel alone through the Jewish Agency's NAALE program. She studied for two years at an agricultural school in Kfar Silver and then joined the IDF. From 1998 she studied physical activity for special populations at the Wingate Institute.

She first competed in triathlon in 2002 and then focused on road cycling. In 2004 her father died, and she briefly joined an Italian professional team before returning to Israel when her mother fell ill with cancer. She won triathlon gold at the 2005 Maccabiah and was Israel's champion in 2004 to 2007 and 2009.

From 2009 she turned to the Ironman distance. At the 2010 Ironman World Championship in Hawaii she finished first in the 30 to 34 age group, and in 2012 she moved to the professional field. She later won the Israeli CrossFit Championship in the 35 to 39 category in 2017 and lives in Kfar Saba, where she coaches swimming.