Fifteen years after standing atop a podium in Sydney to become Israel’s fourth Olympic medalist, Michael Kolganov last week announced he was leaving the Holy Land for Germany.
“My heart is in Israel, but my future is in Germany,” Kolganov told the Israeli daily Israel Hayom. “My closet at home is full of medals and trophies, but that won’t pay for the groceries.”
The issue of young Israelis moving to Germany in search of a more affordable life has become a hot topic in recent years, with some in Israel questioning their patriotism.
Kolganov, 40, who won a bronze in kayaking in the 2000 Summer Olympics, told the Israeli news site Ynet that he would be taking a position as a coach in Germany.
In June, Konstantin Matusevich, 45, the Israeli record holder for the high jump, announced he was moving to Toronto with his family, according to Ynet.
Kolganov and Matusevich complained in interviews with the Hebrew press that it was difficult for former Olympic athletes in Israel to make a living and support their families after retiring from competition. In the interview with Ynet, Kolganov said he had been collecting unemployment benefits since April while looking for a new job.
Like many of Israel’s top athletes in track, field, swimming and gymnastics in the past two decades, Kolganov and Matusevich were born in the former Soviet Union. Kolganov was born in Tashkent and moved to Israel in 1996. Matusevich was born in Kiev and made aliyah in 1995.
In the summer of 2011, more than 400,000 of Israel’s 8 million citizens took to the streets to protest the high cost of living as reflected in the prices of things as important as housing and as basic as cottage cheese.
The cost of living in Israel has remained high, growing 34 percent between 2008 and 2013, according to a report by the Knesset Research and Information Center.
Meanwhile, the average gross Israeli wage rose just 24 percent in nominal terms, to about 9,200 shekels ($2,400) a month. — jta