
Nili Block is arguably one of Israel’s finest athletes and has an incredible set of achievements to her name. She is a 7-time World Champion in Muay Thai and kickboxing, a four time European champion and a six time Athlete of the Year, as chosen by the Israeli sports federation.
Born in Baltimore, Nili and her family moved to Israel when she was 2 years old, moving to Bet Shemesh, and saying that she grew up with “an Israeli culture”. Growing up with aspirations of competing, Nili said that growing up, “my dream was to be a professional athlete”. She originally competed in American football, in basketball and boxing, in addition to previously being a runner. Although she comes from a religious background, she said that her family were supportive of her career, although originally they originally “thought it was a phase”. In fact, it was actually her mother who took her to her first Muay Thai class when she was 10, which she was attending to learn self-defence.
Whilst Nili’s first aspiration was to become a professional American football player, she said that the conversation around Muay Thai becoming an Olympic sport inspired her to make the switch “from the field to the ring”. After switching permanently to Muay Thai at the age of 16, she was competing in her first international competition three years later in Thailand. By the time she was 20, after her national service, Nili had become a World Champion.
As a special athlete in the IDF, Nili was able to go onto base in the morning and was then able to go and train in the afternoon. When she became World Champion in 2015, she competed in a tournament in Serbia where she had to face the then reigning world champion from Belarus, who had won it 6 times before Nili dethroned her. Having lost to her on two other occasions, Nili said that “it taught me so much. She sent me back to the drawing board so many times”, and these previous fights had helped Nili learn how to overcome this opponent. Facing her in the semi-final, Nili said that she had treated this fight like the final itself.
Learning from her opponents is something which Nili believes has been essential to making her a better fighter throughout her career. According to Nili, “the better your opposition is, the better you’re going to perform”, and situations in a fight have forced her to adapt. She has faced some incredibly tough opponents in the ring during her career, including UFC star Valentina Shevchenko, who she fought at the beginning of her career.
When asked about how she feels being an Israeli athlete at her level, Nili said that in her opinion, “athletes are the best ambassadors for any country, especially Israel”. In contrast to what has happened in other sports, Nili said that she has never experienced any negativity from opposition fighters, and was even complemented by Iranian athletes who said that they respected her.
“It is my duty to hold the flag up high and show it to the world”, Nili said.
When asked about what advice she would give to young Jewish athletes, Nili said “learn about your specific sport and what’s required in general. Make the switches you need to in your life”. In the next year, Nili said that she wants to grow her own brand in Jewish communities across the world. She also wants to inspire young girls and set up an all-women’s gym back in her hometown of Bet Shemesh, where girls from religious backgrounds like herself can learn to train.
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