FOR A MOMENT, NO ENEMIES, JUST TRIUMPH.

Byline: STEVE DILBECK

GLYFADA, Greece - They wanted to touch him, to feel a piece of history.

There has never been an Olympic awards ceremony like the one held near sunset Wednesday at the Agios Kosmas Sailing Center.

It was genuinely historic, an Israeli standing atop the podium, a precious gold medal draped around his neck.

Gal Fridman, a soft-spoken 28-year-old from Hadera, had done something earlier Wednesday no one from Israel had since it entered the Olympics in 1952.

He won a gold medal.

A battle-worn country almost desperately hungry for a shining Olympic moment, its athletic history in the Summer Games forever darkened by terrorists who murdered 11 Israeli athletes at the 1972 Games in Munich, Gemany, now had reason to celebrate.

Fridman had captured gold in windsurfing. Maybe not the most popular of sports, but on this night in Israel, it was the king of all athletics.

Fridman, whose first name in Hebrew means ``wave,'' entered the small bowl near the sailing venue carrying Israel's flag behind him.

Only 500 people fit in the small ocean-side bowl, and with Greece's Nikos Kaklamanakis taking the silver, the medal ceremony for a relatively obscure sport suddenly became the hottest ticket at the Olympics.

People chanted ``Hail, hail, Israel.'' They sang songs. There were horns and cheers. The Greeks in the crowd seemed to feel challenged, and chanted ``Hel-las.'' The stands vibrated.

Fridman waved to the crowd, to faces holding the flag of Israel. There were easily a couple of hundred Israelis in the crowd, and hundreds more outside, and all seemed to want to embrace Fridman.

Israel - a country surrounded by enemies, a constant target of terrorists, its history borne out of the holocaust - was on the world sport's center stage.

Zui Varshaviak, chairman of Israel's National Olympic Committee, beamed with pride.

``They want to kill us, but we are here and we won a gold medal,'' Varshaviak said.

There were long cheers for Kaklamanakis, who lit the cauldron for Greece at the opening ceremony. But history unfolded when Fridman stepped to the top of the medal stand.

Alex Gilady, Israel's International Olympic Committee member, knowing this moment might come, had previously asked for and was allowed to present the medals.

``For this to happen was a wonderful Olympic moment,'' Gilady said.

Then for the first time, Israel was able to hear its national anthem - Hatikuah, which means ``The Hope'' - played at the Olympic Games. Its flag rose and the crowd loudly sang the anthem.

``We were singing too fast, but we were singing so strongly we couldn't hear the sound,'' Fridman said.

The emotion was thick. Most Israelis in the stands battled tears. Not Fridman, whose grin seemed permanently affixed.

Israel had a new superstar, its first winner in 14 Summer Olympics.

``He knows he's only a messenger here,'' said his girlfriend, Michal Beleg.

At the end of the anthem, someone approached Fridman to shake his hand, then another and another, until people were standing next to him on the podium. The same happened to Kaklamanakis and Britain's bronze winner, Nick Dempsey.

People seemed pulled to the medal stand. Fathers put children on their shoulders to better see him. The area around the medal stand became something of an Olympic mosh pit.

No one seemed to want the moment to end. There was more singing, more applause, more people reaching out to him. They stopped Fridman as he was led through the crowd, still with the Israel flag draped over his shoulders, asking him to pose with a relative for a picture.

He and the others were finally led through the crowd and to TV interviews. During one live telecast back to Israel, he spoke to Israel Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.

``Gal, an entire nation held its breath this afternoon during your last race,'' Sharon said.

``You have earned an honored place in Israel and world sports chronicles.''

Fridman said he had been receiving congratulatory calls all day since winning the mistral event.

``I don't think he will be getting a call from Arafat,'' the IOC's Gilady said.

At first Fridman might seem an unlikely choice as Israel's new spokesman. He's reserved, seems almost uncomfortable in the spotlight. He doesn't claim to have magical answers to the problems in the Middle East.

``The only thing I can want is to bring peace to Israel,'' he said. ``Everybody I know wants peace. If you're going to fight someone, fight them in sports and see who is better.''

The hatred toward Israel from most Middle East countries has remained unabated at Athens. Iraqi judo competitor Arash Miresmaeili refused to compete against Israel's Ehud Yaks and went home.

Soon Fridman also will go home. And when he returns, he will visit the memorial in Tel Aviv honoring the Israelis murdered at the '72 Olympics.

``I'll go to the memorial place to show them the gold medal,'' he said.

To show them one small piece of golden history.

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Photo:

Israel's Gal Fridman is surrounded by teammates and fans after receiving the men's mistral gold medal - Israel's first gold in 52 years.

Herbert Knosowski/Associated Press