Danielle Frenkel

Danielle Frenkel

Frenkel with the "Woman Athlete of the Year" trophy at the Israel track & field championships; 2011
Personal information
Nickname(s) The Israeli Gravity Bender
Nationality Israeli
Born (1987-09-08) September 8, 1987
Sport
Sport Track & field
Event(s) High jump; Triple jump
Coached by Anatoly Shafran
Achievements and titles
National finals Israeli national high jump champion (2010 & 2011)

Danielle Frenkel (Hebrew: דניאל פרנקל; born September 8, 1987) is an Israeli high jumper. The first Israeli to clear 1.90 meters, and the only one who cleared more than 1.90 meters in international competition.

Early life

Frenkel originally was interested in being a professional dancer, and trained for years as a teenager with the Bat-Dor Dance Company.[1][2] Two months after she began her army service, as a guide at Yad Vashem (a memorial to Jewish victims of the Holocaust), Israeli high jump coach Anatoly Shafran, who had seen her jump in a high school competition when she was 14, began an effort to convince her to jump competitively.[1][2]

High jumping career

In 2007, when Frenkel began her training with Shafran, she jumped 1.69 meters.[1] In each of the next two years, she improved her personal best by 6 centimeters, jumping 1.81 meters in 2009.[1]

2010

Her breakthrough year was 2010, in which she improved her personal best by 11 centimeters.[1] After several improvements of her personal best, she won the national championships title for the first time, and also became the Israeli record holder with a jump of 1.89m, and few minutes later improved the fresh record to 1.91m. By this achievement, she qualified for the European Championships, held in Barcelona in late July. In the qualifying, she cleared every height in the first attempt, until she set another national record with a jump of 1.92m, and qualified for the Final, becoming the first ever Israeli female athlete to do so. Two days later in the final, her mediocre jump of 1.85m left her in 12th and last place.[3]

2011

In January 2011, Frenkel twice set a new Israeli national indoor record, at 1.87 meters and 1.90 meters.[4][5] In March, at the European Indoor Championships in Paris, she set an Israeli record of 1.94 meters in qualifying. In the final, she reached fourth place with a jump of 1.92m, another best ever achievement for an Israeli woman. In July 2011, she became Israeli national champion for the second consecutive year, with a jump of 1.89 m.[2][6][6][7][8] In August, she had a disappointment at the World Championships in Daegu, as she jumped only 1.85m and failed to qualify. Her season best outdoors was 1.90m, set in June at Neurim.

Triple jumping career

In June 2011, Frenkel finished fourth in the triple jump at 12.24 meters at the European Team Championships group three in Iceland.[9]

Personal

Frenkel is Jewish.[10] She is a law student at the Interdisciplinary Center. Her nickname is the “Gravity Bender”.[1]

Championships summary

Year Competition Venue Position Event Notes
Representing  Israel
2009 European U23 Championships Kaunas, Lithuania 17th (q) High jump 1.72 m
2010 European Championships Barcelona, Spain 12th High jump 1.85 m
2011 European Indoor Championships Paris, France 4th High jump 1.92 m
Universiade Shenzhen, China 17th (q) High jump 1.75 m
World Championships Daegu, South Korea 24th (q) High jump 1.85 m

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Sinai, Allon (March 9, 2011). "Frenkel’s star continues to rise, one centimeter at a time". The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved October 5, 2011.
  2. 1 2 3 "Frenkel aims to put Israeli athletics back on the map". European-athletics.org. March 21, 2011. Retrieved October 5, 2011.
  3. Alex Carson (August 10, 2010). "Danielle’s jump start in Barcelona". The Jewish Chronicle. Retrieved October 5, 2011.
  4. Alfons Juck (January 30, 2011). "Ukhov tops 2.38m, threatens World record in Hustopece". iaaf.org. Retrieved October 5, 2011.
  5. Jon Mulkeen (January 29, 2011). "Ukhov jumps 2.38m, has close attempts at world record". Athletics Weekly. Retrieved October 5, 2011.
  6. 1 2 "National Athletics Championships / London still a long way off for Danielle Frenkel". Haaretz. July 8, 2011. Retrieved October 5, 2011.
  7. "Paris: High jumper Danielle Frenkel sets new Israeli record". Ynetnews. May 3, 2011. Retrieved October 5, 2011.
  8. "Fourth for Frenkel". The Jewish Chronicle. March 10, 2011. Retrieved October 5, 2011.
  9. Brian Sacks (June 23, 2011). "Ice-cool Israelis". The Jewish Chronicle. Retrieved October 5, 2011.
  10. "Israeli Sports". Jewish Sports Review 8 (87): 19. September/October 2011, accessed September 16, 2011. Check date values in: |date= (help);

External links

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