Track & Field: Magidi given Olympic place; Palli needs to make 2.27m again

The 27-year-old set a new Israeli record time of 8:24.14 minutes in the 3,000 meter steeplechase in France on Saturday, a result that is 46 hundredths of a second faster than the OCI's criteria time.

By ALLON SINAI
magidi 88 (photo credit: )
magidi 88
(photo credit: )
Itai Magidi will be added to the Israel delegation to the Beijing Games, the Olympic Committee of Israel decided on Wednesday. The 27-year-old set a new Israeli record time of 8:24.14 minutes in the 3,000 meter steeplechase in France on Saturday, a result that is 46 hundredths of a second faster than the OCI's criteria time. Magidi was originally required to record such a time twice to secure his place at the Olympics, but due to the quality of his result the OCI determined on Wednesday that he has done enough to book his place at the Games. High jumper Niki Palli, on the other hand, is still not guaranteed of an Olympic berth, but the OCI did decide to give him another chance to do so. The 21-year-old, who jumped 2.27m at an invitational in Haifa on Tuesday, will compete in Beijing if he clears 2.27m at the Israeli athletics Grand Prix event in Jerusalem this Sunday.