World number four Sasson, who beat Alex Garcia Mendoza of
Cuba to win his heavyweight medal in Rio de Janeiro, parted with his judogi for
the Shalva organisation and added the he will start a new judo programme for
children with disabilities at the new Shalva National Centre in Jerusalem.
“A minute before I handed over the jacket, when it was still
in my hands, I thought about whether I would miss having it,” Sasson told Times
of Israel.
“But then I thought about all of the good it would do and
realized that it has reached its ultimate purpose.”
Avi Samuels, Vice Chairman of Shalva, said: “We started
Shalva with many dreams to help children with disabilities in Israel. What Ori
Sasson has done, enables us to fulfill the dreams of our children in ways we
couldn’t even imagine when we first started the organization nearly 25 years
ago.”
Sasson’s teammate an -63kg Olympic bronze medallist Yarden
Gerbi auctioned off her Olympic backpatch in August for over $52,000 to
purchase and donate medical equipment for the Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Centre.