Israeli Olympian Sagi Muki is sharing his home-training regimen online to help motivate those in isolation due to the coronavirus pandemic, and dedicating his time to projects to raise money for coronavirus relief.
Muki is Israel’s first male world judo champion, winning gold at the 2019 World Judo Championships in Tokyo, and is the gold medal favorite in the postponed 2020 Tokyo Olympics, now planned for 2021.
He has auctioned belts, badges and his entire uniform from the Tokyo win, raising more than $40,000 so far to purchase ventilators for hospitals in his hometown of Netanya.
According to the athlete, quoted as part of an ongoing ESPN photo series that examines the ways that the coronavirus pandemic has “upended and reshaped athletes’ lives,” Muki said that “to have [the Olympics] delayed one year is not that easy, but this is the reality and I accept it.”
Before gym closures due to the pandemic, Muki was training at the Israeli Olympic facility at the Wingate Institute, but has since turned his living area into a gym, using household props like tables and chairs, and filming home workouts for his more than 47,000 followers on Instagram.
“I see a lot of people are frustrated because they don’t know what to do. [Videos] will bring them motivation because I have so many exercises they don’t know and some challenges to beat. This is incredible to see the people, how far it’s got,” said Muki.
