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removed Category:Sportspeople from Moldova; added Category:Moldovan sportspeople using HotCat

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'''Boris Polak''' (בוריס פולק; born July 15, 1954) is an Israeli former world champion and Olympic [[sport shooter]].<ref name="sports-reference.com">{{cite web|url=http://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/po/boris-polak-1.html|title=Boris Polak Bio, Stats, and Results|publisher=}}</ref>

==Personal life==
Polak is Jewish and was born in [[Moldova]], in 1954.<ref name="sports-reference.com"/><ref name="chicagotribune.com">{{cite web|url=http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1996-07-15/sports/9607150023_1_israeli-training-facilities-air-rifle-atlanta-olympics|title=Immigrants Infuse Israel With Talent|publisher=Chicago Tribune}}</ref> He made ''[[aliyah]]'' (immigrated to Israel) with his family from [[Alma Ata]], [[Khazakstan]] in 1992.<ref name="jewsinsports.org">[http://www.jewsinsports.org/Olympics.asp?sport=olympics&ID=127 "Boris Polak"]</ref><ref name="nytimes.com">{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1996/07/15/sports/olympics-notebook-israeli-athlete-sets-his-sights-first-gold-medal-for-his.html|title=An Israeli Athlete Sets His Sights on a First Gold Medal for His Country|date=15 July 1996|work=The New York Times}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ROJ2GIA-ALQC&pg=PA494&lpg=PA494&dq=%22Boris%20Polak%22%20shooting&source=bl&ots=f9YvqXy_F8&sig=ZW9w8_XuHY4-cEWwA0EgFhg4rzs&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjW4PD0lOfOAhUG6yYKHRz2DMoQ6AEIZDAL#v=onepage&q=%22Boris%20Polak%22%20shooting&f=false|title=American Jewish Year Book, 1997|date=1997|publisher=VNR AG|via=}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://newspapers.library.in.gov/cgi-bin/indiana?a=d&d=JPOST19960207-01.1.28|title=Jewish Post 7 February 1996 — Hoosier State Chronicles|publisher=Jewish Post}}</ref> He lives in [[Ashkelon]], Israel, and is married with two children.<ref name="issf-sports.org">[http://www.issf-sports.org/athletes/athlete.ashx?personissfid=SHISRM1507195401]</ref> He has worked as a machinist and as a shooting coach.<ref name="chicagotribune.com"/>

==Shooting career==
Polak started practicing shooting, and competing, in 1968, when he was 14 years old.<ref name="nytimes.com"/><ref name="issf-sports.org"/>

In 1980, after Polak came in 6th in the [[European Shooting Championships]] in Oslo in the AR (air rifle) 40M, the Soviet Union dropped him from its Olympic shooting team because some officials thought that at 26 years of age he was too old.<ref name="chicagotribune.com"/><ref name="jewsinsports.org"/><ref name="issf-sports.org"/> He stopped shooting, and for the next seven years served as a [[border guard]] in the [[Red Army]] on a mountain top near China, attaining the rank of Colonel.<ref name="jewsinsports.org"/>

After moving to Israel, while he had not shot competitively for several years, in 1993 Polak won the [[bronze medal]] for Israel in the European Shooting Championships.<ref name="jewsinsports.org"/>

In 1994, he became a world champion, as he won [[gold medal]]s at both the [[ISSF World Shooting Championships]] in Milan, Italy (in the AR 60, with a total score of 691.1, ahead of [[Anatoli Klimenko]] of [[Belarussia]]) and the European Shooting Championships, set two world records, and won the gold medal in the Milan World Cup with a score of 695.2 in the AR60.<ref name="jewsinsports.org"/><ref name="issf-sports.org"/> Polak scored 591 in the standing and kneeling position, and 280 in the kneeling position.<ref name="jewsinsports.org"/>

Polak competed for [[Israel at the 1996 Summer Olympics]], in [[Atlanta]], at the age of 42 the oldest member of the Israeli Olympic team, in Shooting.<ref name="sports-reference.com"/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.jweekly.com/includes/print/3658/article/israel-s-olympic-squad-aims-to-fill-newfound-hopes/|title=j. - Israel’s Olympic squad aims to fill newfound hopes|publisher=}}</ref> In the [[Shooting at the 1996 Summer Olympics – Men's 50 metre rifle prone|Men's Small-Bore Rifle, Prone, 50 metres]], he came in tied for 20th with 594 total points. In the [[Shooting at the 1996 Summer Olympics – Men's 50 metre rifle three positions|Men's Small-Bore Rifle, Three Positions, 50 metres]], he came in tied for 22nd with 1,162 total points.<ref name="sports-reference.com"/> And in the [[Shooting at the 1996 Summer Olympics – Men's 10 metre air rifle|Men's Air Rifle, 10 metres]], he came in tied for 33rd with a score of 581.<ref name="sports-reference.com"/> When he competed in the Olympics, he was 5-8 (173 cm) tall, and weighed 174 lbs (79 kg).<ref name="sports-reference.com"/>

In 1999, Polak won the Milan World Cup in the FR60PR, with a score of 701.7.<ref name="issf-sports.org"/>

== References ==

{{reflist}}

==External links==
*[https://www.olympic.org/boris-polak "Boris Polak"], olympic.org

{{DEFAULTSORT:Polak, Boris}}
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Kazakhstani emigrants to Israel]]
[[Category:Soviet male sport shooters]]
[[Category:Olympic shooters of Israel]]
[[Category:Jewish sport shooters]]
[[Category:Kazakhstani sportspeople]]
[[Category:1954 births]]
[[Category:Soviet emigrants to Israel]]
[[Category:Moldovan emigrants to Israel]]
[[Category:Israeli male sport shooters]]
[[Category:Shooters at the 1996 Summer Olympics]]
[[Category:Moldovan sportspeople]]
[[Category:People from Ashkelon]]
[[Category:People from Almaty]]

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Boris Polak - Revision history

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BrownHairedGirl: removed Category:Sportspeople from Moldova; added Category:Moldovan sportspeople using HotCat