Inbar Lanir wasn’t just fighting for herself. With each grip, throw, and counter against Brazil’s Karol Gimenes at the 2025 Tashkent Grand Slam, the 24-year-old Israeli judoka carried something else onto the mat.

“I want to dedicate this medal to the family of Itzik Elgarat of blessed memory. I fought today to fly the flag in his memory,” Lanir wrote on Instagram after securing a bronze medal in the tournament’s -78 kg category on Thursday.

A dual Danish-Israeli citizen, Elgarat was at home in Kibbutz Nir Oz when Hamas terrorists broke in. They shot through his safe room door, injuring him, before dragging the 68-year-old back to Gaza. He became one of 251 hostages infamously taken on Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas killed 1,200 people across southern Israel.

For months, his fate remained unknown. Then on February 27, Hamas returned his body along with three other dead hostages as part of a ceasefire with Israel in exchange for 602 dangerous Arab prisoners.

On Monday, Elgarat’s funeral drew hundreds who stood silently along the route from Rishon Lezion’s Great Synagogue to Nir Oz, Israeli flags held aloft. When the crowd began singing “Hatikva,” Dani Elgarat broke down, clinging to his brother’s black-draped coffin.

“You’re going home to Nir Oz,” he said. “I promised to bring you back dead or alive, and now you’re coming home.”

At the graveside, amid formal wreaths, a Maccabi Tel Aviv jersey stood as testament to Elgarat’s love of life, now mirrored in the bronze medal hanging around Lanir’s neck. Two symbols of an extraordinary life defined by more than its violent end.