Shahar Milfelder
Shahar Milfelder is an Israeli Paralympic medalist rower. She competed for Israel at the 2024 Paris Paralympics in the PR2 mixed double sculls and won the bronze medal with her rowing partner Druze-Israeli Saleh Shahin.
Early life
Milfelder grew up in Moshav Beit Yitzchak in Israel. At the age of 15, she was diagnosed with a rare and violent bone cancer, and at the time was the only patient in Israel who suffered from it. She went to a hospital in New Jersey in the United States for radiation therapy, but the tumor returned after her treatments. She then underwent a 16-hour operation in a Manhattan hospital, in which half of her pelvis was removed. Initially, she had a special brace so she could walk with a walker, but in time she switched to crutches, and she now can move around with one crutch. She moved to Tel Aviv to be close to her training facility.She later volunteered for the Israel Defense Forces, and served for five years as a simulator instructor and officer in the Israeli Air Force.
Rowing career
Milfelder's club is Beit HaLohm Tel Aviv, and she trains at the Daniel Rowing Center with Dima Margolin and Sergi Bokarib.Her rowing partner is Druze-Israeli Saleh Shahin, who is 15 years older than she is, and was injured while fighting terrorists on the Gaza border. At the 2019 World Rowing Cup III, they won a gold medal in the PR3 Mixed Double Sculls. At the 2023 World Rowing Championships, they came in first in the 2023 [World Rowing Championships – PR2 Mixed double sculls|PR2 Mixed Double Sculls Final B]. At the 2024 World Rowing Final Olympic and Paralympic Qualification Regatta in Switzerland, they won a silver medal in the PR2 Mixed Double Sculls and qualified for the 2024 Paralympics.