Matan Ivri: From Orienteering Champion to Track Phenomenon

Matan Ivri, then not yet 17, was excited at the closing ceremony of the European Championship in Belarus in 2019. The Israeli flag flew next to the expanded podium, marking a great achievement — sixth place on the continent. However, this happened, believe it or not, at the European Orienteering Championship.

Since then, 24-year-old Ivri has become a phenomenon on the track, and this summer established himself as the face of Israeli athletics, breaking the national record in the 1500-meter run again and again. The twist in Ivri's career plot breathed life into a profession that had been dormant for about 40 years in Israel. Gazachau Yosef had set the record at 3:40.90 minutes in 2009, but that short flash did not lift the 1500-meter run, and no one even threatened the result. And Ivri, standing 1.86 m tall, came this summer and dismantled the 17-year-old record. In April, he became the first Israeli to go under 3:40 minutes, and then improved the achievement twice more with huge leaps, when the last time, two weeks ago, he set 3:34.51 at a competition in Belgium. In general, and this is an amazing figure, this season he set the eight best results in the history of an Israeli in the 1500!

Tonight at 21:00, at the stadium in Hadar Yosef, the outstanding athlete from Shimshit will try to push himself a little further. The criterion for the European Championship to be held in Birmingham next month is 3:33.50 minutes, and Ivri will go up for a run in which he will try to improve the national record again and get a ticket to the prestigious competition. There is also a possibility that he will set a result close to the criterion, and then improve his status on the waiting list for the championship. From the stands, his father Ron (a former pilot and now an engineer), mother Rakefet (active in government projects to strengthen small businesses), brother Idan (26), and 20-year-old twin sisters Neta and Ofri are expected to cheer.

Until three years ago, Ivri was still the Israeli orienteering champion. "Why didn't I start focusing on running before the age of 21? Because I didn't know I had it in me," he admits. And this is how the switch happened: "The funniest thing is that I made the whole transition to athletics to improve in orienteering. Running requires high physical ability, but at a slow pace. I tried different diets to be light, but I got weak and became chronically injury-prone. I suffered two stress fractures that sidelined me until I went to be checked by the Olympic Committee doctor, Dr. Idit Shuv. She claimed that what I was eating was the opposite of healthy. Her nutritional recommendations led to a huge health improvement."

"The track opened up for me"

When Ivri realized the capabilities inherent in his legs, he changed course from orienteering to middle-distance running. Not only did he turn out to be a huge talent, but a whole world of possibilities opened up before him. He received a $100,000 scholarship from the University of Wisconsin, where he trains in excellent conditions, and in the last two years won the Dean's Award as a computer science student. And he excels in athletics as well. This year he impressed with fifth place at the US College Championship, which brings together athletes of the highest level. Only there, just a month ago, did his direction become clear. Before the regional college final, Ivri's coach in Wisconsin, Chris Solinsky (his coach in Israel is Amir Ramon), asked him to choose between 1,500 and 5,000 m — a run in which he also holds a not-bad result, 13:23.11 minutes. Ivri was not entirely sure he had decided correctly, but exceeded all expectations by reaching the national final at the wonderful stadium in Oregon, "even though my entry time for the run was the weakest among all the competitors."

"I kept myself in the picture," Ivri continues, "and then, 200 m before the finish line, I realized that the track opened up for me and from now on a lot depends on me. In the end, I was only 20 hundredths away from the bronze medal, in a field of runners that included the best young people in the world. I wouldn't have believed I would reach this level so quickly." Only a few Israelis have succeeded throughout history in this competition, led by Denis Cholev, who was crowned college champion in pole vaulting.

Inspiration from his cousin

Ivri decided to strike while the iron was hot, and continue competing in the US in the summer in an attempt to improve his result, but there was no place for him in the runner lineups at the International Association competitions. "We knew that two suitable competitions would take place in parallel in Belgium," he says, "but I had a problem getting released from my work on a prestigious project for Amazon, where I have an important role. In the end, I got the approval from work. In the first competition, I cut almost three seconds off the record in the 1,500, and in the second I already went under 3:35, which put me for the first time in the top 100 in the world in the International Association of Athletics Federations ranking. This is definitely not my last word."

What's on the target now? "European Championship. I'm already close. After that, I want to reach the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028 as a significant and competitive runner, not one who comes to pass the time. It will happen." The only time an Israeli ran 1,500 m at the Olympics was also in Los Angeles, in 1984, when Mark Handelsman was our representative. If Matan gets there, he will continue the family's glorious Olympic tradition. His cousin, Amit Ivri, was the first Israeli swimmer to reach an Olympic semi-final (London 2012, 200 m medley), also participated in Rio 2016 and five World Championships, and won a bronze medal in the 100 m butterfly at the European Championship.