Raz Hershko has devoted herself to
the martial art of Judo since she was a child.
Raz is stopping at nothing to make Israel's Olympic squad.
My dream? My dream is to win a gold medal, an Olympic one.
That's my dream, no more and no less.
In the Middle East and North Africa,
the next generation of athletes rise.
An elite force, exceeding expectation...
..to reach gold.
These are their stories...
..through their eyes.
(GENERATION RISE - MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH AFRICA)
Raz Hershko is twice national Judo champion
of the 78kg category.
19 years old,
she's set on becoming Israel's next Olympic Judo medal winner
at the games in Tokyo 2020.
When you are on the mat, during a fight,
there's no such thing as honour,
there's no such thing as friendships.
You have to be bad,
bad as in you don't care what happens to your rival,
or whether she's injured.
In two days,
Raz is taking on an intense testing session
that will determine if she's ready
to join Israel's senior Judo team.
Judo was first contested at the Olympic Games
in the cradle of the sport, in Tokyo in 1964.
In Japanese,
Judo means "the gentle way".
Developed by a Japanese academic
as a means to nurture physical and mental strength,
it's a martial art that rewards adjustment and evasion.
Olympic fights last for five minutes for men,
and four minutes for women.
To win,
competitors must either throw their opponent to the ground,
and hold them on their back for 20 seconds,
or force them into submission.
Next, light running.
Run!
We spend about six, seven hours a day here,
morning training, evening training.
In order to become a champion,
you need to have many talents.
You need to be strong,
you need to be fast,
you need to be explosive,
but most importantly,
you must work hard. It's a very difficult sport.
Raz's coach has trained the junior Judo team for six years.
Now he's preparing Raz to advance to the senior team.
Raz entered the team at the age of 12-13 as a huge promise.
It was easy to see her agility,
high level of coordination,
explosive power, and physical strength.
Resist, you are not resisting.
There are more than 40 essential throwing techniques
that define Judo.
To qualify for the senior squad,
Raz needs to prove she's mastered every one.
It's the strength and the explosive power.
It's bang, that moment when you get in there.
After months of preparation,
Raz's fitness and Judo techniques
will be put to the test in two days' time.
If she passes, she'll be one step closer
to joining Israel's Olympic squad.
It is hard.
It will always be hard,
it will always be even harder,
but you learn, and work as hard as possible,
more than anybody else,
and put in the effort, and win.
Raz is not the first Israeli woman to dream of winning
an Olympic judo event.
When Yael Arad entered
the first Olympic Games women's Judo event
in Barcelona in 1992,
few people in Israel knew who she was.
At the time, Judo was virtually unknown in Israel
and with only a small number of female competitors,
Yael had no choice but to train with men.
Then, after 17 years of dedication,
she became the first Israeli to win an Olympic medal.
Claiming silver in the women's final,
Yael inspired a new generation of Israeli athletes
and is credited with establishing Judo
as a national sport.
Lift the mattress.
Then you turn it over, get on it.
To apply to join Israel's senior Judo squad,
Raz must successfully pass a series of physical tests
to prove she's ready to advance her Judo career.
Up and...
strong, strong, strong!
Up. Fast. Fast. Take it up a notch.
My fears? My fears are to be beaten but more than that...
..the bigger fear is not doing what I'm supposed to do
in a fight,
to not work as you should, to give up.
That's worse than losing a fight.
A little more. Stop.
What you've done up till now is child's play.
Without time to rest,
Raz moves to the next stage of the test.
She must perform a series of traditional Judo throws.
With Judo you need to throw once in a fight,
rather than 20 times.
After one perfect throw, the fight is finished.
So she did six perfect ones.
After what she did earlier, it's enough for today.
Raz has passed with flying colours,
and now that she can apply to join the senior squad,
her friends are ready to celebrate.
Of course I want to get the highest achievement.
In every competition,
I want to get to the top of the podium.
In every single fight in a competition,
I want to give 200% in every fight,
and if that's going to bring me a gold medal, that's great.
(RAZ HERSHKO WAS INSPIRED BY YARDEN GERBI'S)
(BRONZE MEDAL WIN AT THE OLYMPIC GAMES RIO 2016)
(RAZ IS "200% FOCUSED" ON BECOMING)
(ISRAEL'S NEXT WOMAN TO WIN AN OLYMPIC MEDAL IN JUDO)