Israeli para swimmer Mark Malyar, 21, on Sunday won his second gold medal, this time in the 400-meter freestyle—finishing at 4:31.06 and breaking his own 2019 world record of 4:33.64—in the 2020 Tokyo Paralympic games. Last Friday, Malyar won the gold medal in the 200 meters individual medley for SM7 disability.
Second place on Sunday went to Ukrainian Andrei Trosov with 4:35.56 minutes, third was the American Evan Austin with 4:38.95 minutes. This is Israel’s fifth medal at the Tokyo Paralympic Games: Malyar is accompanied by swimmers Iyad Shalabi (gold) and Ami Omer Dadaon (silver) and rowing champion Moran Samuel (silver).
Malyar is not yet done and may harvest more medals for the Israeli team in 50m freestyle, 50m butterfly, and 100m backstrokes. His medal is the 379th won by Israeli athletes in the Paralympic Games, 170 of which have been won in the pool.
Mark Malyar was born with cerebral palsy at Bnei Zion Medical Center in Haifa, to his parents Alex and Diana. He has a twin brother, Ariel, who is also an outstanding Paralympic swimmer. Mark trains at the ILAN pool in Kiryat Haim and is coached by Yaakov Benenson.
Malyar began swimming at age 5 with his brother as part of hydrotherapy treatment. A few years later, he joined the ILAN Haifa swimming team. He participated in national competitions, and with his successes advanced to the European and world championships, collecting medals in all of them.
Summer Paralympics
Gold medal – first place – 2020 Tokyo – 200m individual medley SM7
Gold medal – first place – 2020 Tokyo – 400m freestyle S7
World Championships (LC)
Gold medal – first place – 2019 London – 400m freestyle S7
Silver medal – second place – 2019 London – 200m individual medley S7
Bronze medal – third place – 2017 Mexico City – 100m backstrokes S8
Bronze medal – third place – 2017 Mexico City – 100m breaststroke SB7
European Championships
Gold medal – first place – 2021 Madeira – 100m backstroke S7
Silver medal – second place – 2018 Dublin – 400m freestyle S7
Silver medal – second place – 2020 Funchal – 200m individual medley SM7
Silver medal – second place – 2021 Madeira – 200m individual medley SM7
Silver medal – second place – 2021 Madeira – 100m breaststroke SB6
Bronze medal – third place – 2018 Dublin – 100m backstroke S7
Bronze medal – third place – 2018 Dublin – 100m breaststroke SB6
Bronze medal – third place – 2020 Funchal – 400m freestyle S7
Bronze medal – third place – 2021 Madeira – 400m freestyle S7