With only 6 months to go, the fate of the 2021 Tokyo Olympics seems shrouded in mystery. Former Olympic Athlete, Yoav Bruck, has a strong belief the games will take place.
After a long career as a world-class competitive swimmer, today Yoav is the man behind Israel’s leading sport traveling agency, Issta Sports.
In this interview, he spoke to us about his passion for the sport, his plans to develop Israeli tourism to Japan and from Japan to Israel in the future, and his thoughts on the 2021 Olympics.
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At age 9, Yoav finds his potential
Yoav grew up in a small village in southern Israel. At age 9, he started swimming. His natural talent for the sport and work ethic propelled him above the competition and at 17, Yoav had already set his first Israeli national record in 100 meters freestyle.
He began looking towards the United States, the world’s largest pool for swimming talent.
“I realized that if I wanted to be good I had to go where the best compete. In 12th grade, I traveled to the US to study and practice there.”
While he studied in a university in the US, Yoav was training intensively with some of the world’s best talents. Upon returning to Israel, at the peak of the Russian immigration wave after Russia opened up, he got to train with the former Russian coaches who were among the best in the world.
“I always combined school with swimming, through high school to graduate school, and it was always around the clock crazy schedule.”
A typical day starts with practice at 5 am, then at 7:45 classes begin, Then, another workout, Finally, Yoav would go home to eat and finish homework before going to sleep early to wake up at 5 am again.
“It's like that every day and it's very intense. Swimming is a very Sisyphean sport.”
Fifth in Europe- Yoav’s achievements
It was this complete dedication to the sport that swam Yoav to the top. He has seen his fair share of competitions – including the Olympics.
“I did 3 Olympics, including a final in Atlanta during which the Israeli quartet advanced to the Olympic final for the first time in the history of the Israeli team. I participated in Barcelona 92, Atlanta 96, and Sydney 2000.”
“At the World Championships in 94, I reached a personal final in the 50 freestyle, which is the shortest and fastest distance. I also participated in the European Championship. At my peak, I was in fifth in Europe.”
Experiencing the Olympics first hand, Yoav knows the magic of the games. While his admission to the games speaks of his own ability, Yoav still remembers feeling starstruck in the presence of several legendary athletes.
“The first Olympics I participated in, we came to the Olympic Village together with the Americans – athletes like Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Larry Byrd. At the next Olympics, I got to meet Muhammad Ali. A few years later, when I was no longer competing, I got to meet Michael Phelps in Beijing.”
But Yoav wasn’t only in awe of the legends. “You can sit on a bus with an athlete from Iran or North Korea. These are people you could not meet in any other situation. It’s a very special encounter.”
The start of Issta Sports
Like many Olympic athletes, towards the end of his career, Yoav was looking for a sponsor. He contacted Amir Peled (today chairman of Issta Sports), who at the time was working in the field of tourism.
“He told me I don't need a sponsor, but to know what I do after my sports career is over. That's the best advice I've ever got. He connected me to Issta, a leading tourism agency, with the idea of developing sports tourism.”
And so at the end of 1999, while Yoav was training for the Olympics and studying for an M.B.A at Tel Aviv University, he started Issta Sports.
At first, Issta Sports was a travel agency focused mainly on sports associations, teams, and training camps. Over time, they also gained traction with fans’ travel.
“We started selling packages when the Maccabi Tel Aviv basketball team played in Europe and there was a crazy demand. We became the representatives of FCB Barcelona football club in Israel, then of the World Cup, and the Olympics. We are the representatives of marathons, including the Tokyo Marathon, most of the leading sports events in the world.”
As we speak, Yoav is fully engaged in working together with his Japanese Travel partners to build the plans for the day after COVID-19 where they will promote Israel for the Japanese public and sell packages to Israel. “With Israel UAE agreements and the fact that we can now fly over Saudi, the flying time is cut dramatically and we predict many more Japanese will come to visit our lovely country”.
Tokyo Olympics and COVID-19
Yoav’s love for the Olympics continues to this day.
In preparation for the Tokyo Olympics, and prior to the outbreak of the pandemic, Issta Sports started an activity called Japaniche – a neology which combines the words Japan and Niche – which offers a package of organized trips in Japan.
“I was there 8 times before the Olympics, I started traveling right after the Rio Olympics and I was the first international agent to come and meet with the local organizers, it was important to me to show my dedication and respect to them and the local agents.”
“It was important for me to be there first and to show our Japanese friends and colleagues that we are serious. We have been working in the Olympics for many years and we are very organized and experienced. We are the representatives of Israel and Spain for the games. If it weren’t for COVID−19, we would have brought a lot of audience to Japan.”
Yoav is still planning to open the Israel house in Tokyo for the Olympics. “We are waiting to see how the Olympic Committee will operate. There is more than half a year left, let’s see what happens.”
״I believe the Games will happen, with the right measures in place and I have full trust in the Japanese system to be able to deliver organized and safe games. The challenge is big but if we all cooperate we can bring great games to the Japanese people and the international spectators!״
