Yael Arad

Yael Arad was born in 1967 in Tel Aviv

Yael Arad was born in Tel Aviv on 1 May 1967. Her father, Aryeh Arad, was a journalist at Davar, Galei Tzahal and Kol Yisrael. Her mother, Nurit Arad, covered consumer affairs for Yedioth Ahronoth.

She began judo at Maccabi Tel Aviv as a child and became an Israeli champion while still young. She won European bronze medals in 1989 and 1991. At the 1992 Barcelona Olympics she took silver after losing the final to Catherine Fleury of France, and dedicated the medal to the victims of the 1972 Munich massacre.

In 1993 she won the European title in Athens and a world silver medal in Hamilton. She finished fifth at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics while ill, then retired. She coached Orit Bar-On for the 2000 Sydney Olympics.

She earned a business degree from Reichman University and led P.M.I, a children's products company, from 2001 to 2010. She later managed the commercial activity of Nickelodeon channels in Israel. Her autobiography, First, came out in 2018.

In 2021 she became the first woman and first Olympic medalist to head the Olympic Committee of Israel. In 2023 she joined the International Olympic Committee. She has two children and lives in Tel Aviv.