Lydia Hatuel-Czuckermann

Lydia Hatuel-Czuckermann

File:Lydia Hatuel Czuckermann.png Lydia Hatuel-Czuckermann
Personal information
Birth name	Lydia Hatuel
Nationality	Israeli
Born	(1963-08-15) August 15, 1963 Casablanca, Morocco
Residence	Israel
Sport
Sport	Fencing
Event(s)	Foil
Achievements and titles
Olympic finals	Los Angeles 1984 - 26th Barcelona 1992 - 23rd Atlanta 1996 - 13th
Highest world ranking	16th in the world in 1996 and 1997, reached the top 8
Medal record Women's fencing Representing Israel Maccabiah Games 2001 Israel Individual Women's Foil

Lydia Hatuel-Czuckermann (born August 15, 1963, in Casablanca, Morocco) is an Israeli fencer. One of Israel's top female fencers, she competed in the foil event at the 1984, 1992, and 1996 Olympiads. Her fencing career started at the age of 8, and she maintained an international ranking until 2004.

Fencing career

Israeli champion

Hatuel-Czuckermann first won the Israeli national title in 1979, when she was sixteen. She eventually won the title more than 20 times, and was listed in the Guinness Book of World Records.

Olympics

File:Atlanta 1996 Israeli Olympic Delegation.JPG

Atlanta 1996: Israeli Olympic Delegation flag holder

She missed her first chance at the Olympics at the 1980 Moscow Olympic Games because of the international boycott. At the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games, she won all six of her bouts in the first round and was eliminated in the second round. She finished in 26th place. She did not compete in the 1988 Seoul Olympics because the fencing competition fell on Yom Kippur.

At the 1992 Barcelona Games she finished in 23rd place. At the 1996 Atlanta Games, at which she was seeded number 12, she won her first match over Felicia Zimmerman of the U.S., but lost to number 5 seed Monika Weber-Koszto, 15-13. She finished in 13th place. She also competed in the team foil event, along with Ayelet Ohayon, Lilach Parisky, and Ira Slivotsky. The Israelis, who were seeded number 9, lost to China in the first round (29–45), but defeated the United States (45–39). They finished in 9th place.

World Championships and World Cup

File:Lydia Hatuel Czuckermann - Fencer.jpg

Lydia Hatuel Czuckermann - Olympic Fencer

In 1991, she finished 8th in the World Championships. She was 8th in the 1996 World Cup. She finished 73rd in foil at the 1999 World Championships.

European Championships

She reached semifinals at the European Championships in 2002.

Maccabiah Games

She won the bronze medal in the individual foil competition at the 2001 Maccabiah Games.

Public activity

Sports

In 1996, right after the Atlanta Olympics, she was among the founders of Israeli Olympic Athletes Committee, and retained her membership until 2009. She served as Chairman of the Israeli Fencing Association from 2010 to 2012. She was a member of the Olympic Committee of Israel from 2004 to 2009.

Politics

In 2004 she joined the campaign for the Acre, Israel mayorship and helped him win the elections.

Family

She is the sister of Israeli Olympic fencer Yitzhak Hatuel (who competed in foil for Israel in the 1984 Summer Olympic Games), and aunt of Israeli Olympic fencer Delila Hatuel and Israeli fencer Maor Hatuel.

She has four children: Idan Czuckermann (Israeli National Fencing Champion), Matan Czuckermann (Israeli National Fencing Champion), Niran Czuckermann, and Leehe (Chen Veronique) Czuckermann.

See also

• List of select Jewish fencers

External links

• Jerusalem Post article, "Hatoel Zuckerman foiled by referee"  – via HighBeam (subscription required)