Baruch Hagai

Baruch Hagai, 2016
Personal information
Born	(1944-01-17)17 January 1944
Sport
Country	Israel
Medal record Representing  Israel Summer Paralympic Games Table tennis 1964 Tokyo Singles C[1] 1968 Tel Aviv Singles C[2] 1968 Tel Aviv Doubles C[3] 1972 Heidelberg Singles 4[4] 1976 Toronto Singles 4-5[5] 1964 Tokyo Doubles C[6] Swimming 1964 Tokyo 50m breaststroke[7] 1964 Tokyo medley relay[8] Wheelchair basketball 1968 Tel Aviv wheelchair basketball[9] 1980 Arnhem wheelchair basketball 1972 Heidelberg wheelchair basketball 1976 Toronto wheelchair basketball 1964 Tokyo wheelchair basketball Stoke Mandeville Games Table tennis 1965 Doubles Wheelchair basketball 1967 wheelchair basketball 1969 wheelchair basketball 1981 wheelchair basketball World Championships 1971 wheelchair basketball 1975 wheelchair basketball European Championships 1971 wheelchair basketball 1978 wheelchair basketball 1981 wheelchair basketball

Baruch Hagai (Hebrew: ברוך חגאי; born 1944) is an Israeli paralympic champion.

Early life

Hagai was born in Tripoli, Libya, to a Jewish family of 13. At the age of two he contracted polio, and five years later his family made aliyah to Israel. The family settled in Tel Aviv, where Hagai was treated for polio in Israel for the first time. Hagai was trained as a technician, and in the years 1960-2000 he worked as a technician and project manager for a bus-manufacturing factory.

Basketball and table tennis career

He was one of the first to join the Israel Sports Center for the Disabled, in 1960, and was active in wheelchair basketball and in table tennis. Over the years he took part in 224 international basketball games on behalf of the Israeli national team and 66 international games on behalf of the Center. In table tennis he won four consecutive gold medals at the Paralympic Games.

Following his retirement, Hagai joined the Sports Center as head coach.

Awards

In 1986, Hagai was declared as a "Man of Peace" on behalf of the International Olympic Committee.

In 2001, he was awarded with the Israel Prize, for sports,^[10][11] in recognition of his long years of excellence in disabled sports.