Nina Is an Athlete, a documentary released in January, showcases Israeli Paralympic badminton champion Nina Gorodetsky’s successful parallel quest to compete in the Tokyo Paralympic Games in 2021 and conceive a second child at age 40.

No less impressive, the now 43-year-old mom, wheelchair-bound since a car crash in her teens, managed to qualify for the Paralympics in Paris this summer even with the stress of her husband, Dor Kessel, being away from home fighting a war.

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“Dor was in the reserves for four months, and I was alone with two children,” Gorodetsky said. “For four months, I did not fly to competitions. Players ranked below me overtook me in the rankings.” Yet in February, she was able to attend the World Championships in Thailand, where she ranked ninth—assuring her a spot on the team.

“I didn’t prepare for the competition as much as I needed and wanted to. Yet I made it to the quarterfinals,” she said. “I still find it hard to believe that I was able to get a ticket to the Paris games.”

The Hamas attacks, ensuing war in Gaza and friction in the North have added extra challenges for Israeli athletes ahead of the Paris Olympics (July 26 to August 11) and Paralympics (August 28 to September 8). In another sign of the times, 20 Israeli Paralympians so far have volunteered to mentor people with new disabilities resulting from the current war through a special initiative of the Israel Sports Association for the Disabled and Israel Paralympic Committee.

Despite the challenges, Gorodetsky and her teammates will likely bring home medals from Paris. Since the Paralympics were first established in 1960 for athletes with physical impairments, Israeli Paralympians have earned a total of 129 gold, 125 silver and 130 bronze medals. At the Tokyo games, Israel’s 33-member team earned six golds, two silvers and one bronze—eight in swimming and one in rowing.

Israel’s Paralympic team headed to Paris, split almost evenly between men and women, will include at least three Muslims and one Druze in its 30-plus roster. Athletes will compete in multiple events, among them swimming, hand bike, rowing, shooting, goalball, taekwondo, boccia, kayaking and tennis.