Avishag Semberg Announces Retirement From Taekwondo at 25

Avishag Semberg, Israel’s first Olympic taekwondo medalist, has announced her retirement at 25. In an interview published on November 1, she confirmed that she is ending her competitive career and leaving the sport entirely, rather than continuing to train as a hobby. “I’m not going to compete anymore,” Semberg said. She described losing her competitive motivation over the past year and feeling satisfied with what she had achieved. Taking part in Dancing With the Stars helped her reach her decision: a return to intensive training and the travel required for international competition no longer appealed to her. She also recalled sleepless nights during a difficult period following her defeat at the Paris Olympics. Semberg began taekwondo in first grade. At Tokyo 2020, she won bronze in the women’s under-49kg division, becoming the first Israeli to reach an Olympic podium in the sport. At 19, she was also Israel’s youngest Olympic medalist at the time. Her record includes European gold in 2020 and silver in 2022; at Paris 2024, she was eliminated in the round of 16. She is now giving lectures and has begun studying business administration at the College of Management. She has not yet chosen the career she wants to pursue after elite sport.