Karina Pritika

Karina Pritika, 23, a former rhythmic gymnast from Ariel, was murdered while attending the Supernova music festival near Kibbutz Re’im on October 7.

She is survived by her parents, Yevgeny and Svetlana, as well as her siblings and grandparents. She was buried on October 11 in Ariel.

She was slain alongside her close friend and co-worker, Maya Haim. They worked together at the Mena restaurant in Tel Aviv, and were saving up so they could travel together to South America in November for several months, with tickets to leave just a few weeks after they were killed.

Her boss at the restaurant, Omri Kauftheil, wrote in Israel Hayom that “Karina was like sunshine on earth, with endless energy and crazy agility, she could take over an entire resautarnt herself without it bothering a single customer. Our heart is broken, and as long as we are here we will work to memorialize them in every way.”

Born in Portugal, Pritika began training at age of four at the Maccabi Petah Tikva gymnastic club under trainer Natasha Asmolov. She went on to success in national competitions and was a member of Israel’s national team for international events.

“She was a decent girl, always smiling,” Asmolov told the Israel Hayom outlet.

Karina, she said, had “discipline and a work ethic, excellent at everything, diligent.”

Fellow gymnast Nicole Szymanski, who trained with Karina as a child, told the outlet that her friend was “a girl who spread light every where, always smiling, laughing, optimistic.” She was someone who “shines only light on the people around her.”

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