Israeli Jiu-Jitsu fighter and Nova survivor dedicates gold medal to fallen friend

Yarin Shriki, an Israeli jiu-jitsu practitioner and Nova music festival survivor, won gold at the Paris Jiu Jitsu 2024 Grand Prix on Saturday. He dedicated the win to his best friend, Yohai Ben Zechariah, who was killed on October 7.

Shriki, competing in the adult male under-69kg Gi category, triumphed over Yael Truffandier of France, Samuel Chagny of France, and Kostiantyn Shutko of Ukraine. 

His final match against his Ukrainian opponent, Shutko, was tight. Shutko led the first part of the fight. However, in the final thirty seconds, Shriki successfully swept his opponent and took the lead by two points. Shriki evaded Shutko’s attempt to take his back and went on to win.

'I am very proud to represent our country'

Speaking to the Jerusalem Post, Shriki said: "I am very proud to represent our country, especially in places where the majority isn't supporting us, and there is a lot of hate towards our people. It gives me great satisfaction to make those people stand for the Israel national anthem."

In an Instagram post after the event, Shriki wrote, “Grand Prix Paris gold medal. Thank God for everything”. 

Shriki also dedicated his previous Gold medal win in late November of last year to the friends he lost at the Nova music festival. 

In a post at the time, he wrote, “Where do I start my story… A story that never ends. On 7/10 I was in Nova with my brothers and close friends. I’ve never described what happened to us. How does a party of fun and beautiful people turn into an area full of corpses and blood? Not a few hours passed and I started to hear that people so close to me were no longer answering. We ran away as fast as possible in every direction and miraculously I made it home. But my friends didn't.

“I didn't have time to cry as I already found myself returning to training with all my might for the European Team Championship in Croatia,” he continued. “And before I got on the plane, the only thing I knew was that I was going to play the national anthem for all those beautiful people who were murdered in cold blood.”

He mentions Hanan Ben Ari's song Homeland [מולדת], saying that the lyrics "Even on the brink of an abyss, even inside hell, you are heaven" will stay with him "forever".

He concluded by commemorating his friends, writing, “This gold medal is dedicated to my dear Yochai ben Zakaria and the late Osher Simcha Barzilai, z”l, thank you for everything.

“Am yisrael chai.”