Samuel grew up in Karmiel, Israel, in a Jewish family. She began playing basketball in her hometown. During her military service in the Israeli Air Force, she was an outstanding athlete enrolled in a program that permits top athletes to complete their mandatory service while representing the country in sports as well; after her service, she played on the Israel women's national basketball team.[3][4]
In 2006, Samuel suffered a spinal stroke[5] and became paralyzed in her lower body. After she recovered, she completed her academic studies at Haifa University and became a physical therapist,[6] and then worked with the Paralympic Sports Association team on the re-establishment of the Israeli women's basketball team on wheelchairs.
Sports career
Basketball
Samuel in 2016
Playing with the national women's basketball team, she qualified for the European Wheelchair Basketball Championship, held in Nazareth in 2011, and simultaneously joined the Beit HaLohem[3] team in Tel Aviv, with Samuel being the sole woman in an all-male team.[7] Beit LaLohem won the double championship in 2011. In 2013, she played for Israel at the European Wheelchair Basketball Championship in Frankfurt, with the team finishing in the seventh place overall. At this competition, she was voted one of the five best players in Europe titled "All Star Team".[8]
Rowing
Samuel switched to Para rowing because she wanted to represent Israel at the Paralympic Games.[1]
As part of her paralympic sport activities, and as suggested by her life partner, also a rower,[5] Samuel started to train in rowing in 2010 and represented Israel at the 2012 Summer Paralympic Games in London, finishing fifth. Earlier that year, she won a race in single scull competition at the Adaptive Rowing Regatte in Gavirate, Italy, but the organizers did not have a copy of the Hatikva, Israel's national anthem; she asked for the microphone and sang it instead.[9] In 2015, she won the gold medal at the World Cup event in Lake Varese,[10] defeating the reigning world champion, Norwegian rower Birgit Skarstein.
At the 2015 World Rowing Championships held in Lac d'Aiguebelette, France, Samuel won the gold medal in the women's AS single sculls,[11] thus earning a spot at the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro.[12] Also, she received the bronze medal in June 2016 at the World Rowing Cup in Poznań.[13]
Samuel won the silver medal in the arms-only single sculls at the 2020 Summer Paralympic Games in Tokyo.[15] It was after setting her personal best record in the repechage the day before.[1]
2024 Paris Paralympics
She won a gold medal competing for Israel at the 2024 Paris Paralympics in the Women's single sculls.[16][17] She said: "we started today with terrible news [referencing the killing of six hostages in Gaza... and three police officers in the West Bank]... I told myself, ‘Moran, this is due to, this is because of and this is despite'” the difficult situation facing Israel at home. It’s a privilege to be here in this bubble at the Paralympic Games, and to finish with a gold medal — and to be able to scream the anthem from deep inside me is a moment I’ll never forget in my life... I wasn’t even sure I’d be able to sing the anthem… I hope everyone comes home."[17]
Personal life
Samuel is a lesbian.[18] She and her wife have 2 children.[1][19]
^"Rowing - Final A Results". Tokyo 2020 Paralympics. Tokyo Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games. 29 August 2021. Archived from the original on 18 September 2021. Retrieved 18 September 2021.
