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The claim: Video shows Israeli gymnasts at the Olympic Games in Paris
An Instagram video from July 28 (direct link, archive link) shows gymnasts in white uniforms performing in front of an audience. At the end of the performance, some of the gymnasts hold up signs that read: “Take her home immediately!”
“Israel’s gymnasts perform at the Olympic Games in Paris with a strong message at the end,” says the text above the video
The post was liked over 26,000 times in more than two weeks.
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Our rating: False
The video shows a gymnastics performance at a school in Israel, which took place just two weeks before the start of the Olympic Games in Paris.
Video from the time before the Olympic Games in Paris shows performance in Israel
The video shows an end-of-year performance by a gymnastics school in Rehovot, Israel, held on July 15, nearly two weeks before the start of the Paris Olympics, Nirit Danon-Lauper, the school’s director, told Reuters.
The gymnasts’ message is a reference to the hostages taken by Hamas during the October 7 attack on Israel that sparked the ongoing war in the Gaza Strip.
Meirav Leshem Gonen, whose 23-year-old daughter Romi was one of those abducted, posted a video of the performance on her verified Facebook account on July 26, the same day as the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics and before any gymnastics competitions took place. Her video appears to have been shot from a similar angle to the Instagram video.
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The school posted a picture of the performance on Facebook on July 26 and a video on July 28 showing the performance from a different angle than the Instagram video.
Israel’s ongoing war in Gaza has sparked protests and accusations of genocide around the world, with the country’s Olympic team saying some of its athletes were threatened during the Paris Games, the Associated Press reported.
USA TODAY reached out to the gymnastics school and the social media user who shared the post for comment but did not immediately receive a response.
Our fact-checking sources:
- Reuters, August 14, Fact check: Video does not show Israeli gymnastics team at Olympic Games in Paris
- Meirav Leshem Gonen, July 26, Facebook post
- Paris 2024, accessed on 13 August, artistic gymnastics
- Gymnast | ג’ימנסט -בי”ס להתעמלות ואקרובטיקה, July 26, Facebook post
- Gymnast | ג’ימנסט -בי”ס להתעמלות ואקרובטיקה, July 28, Facebook post
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