The Race Date and Reported Time
Timing provider Sportstats lists October 10, 2026, as the event's date in Hawaii. Israeli coverage also used October 11, 2026, the publication date of several reports. The local race date should be distinguished from the date the news reached readers in Israel.
The time of 16 hours, 33 minutes and 54 seconds appears in Shvoong's October 11, 2026, report and The Jewish Chronicle's October 13, 2026, coverage. It could not be checked against the organizer's final individual result. It is therefore presented as a reported time, rather than an independently verified official result.
The description of Shtonda as the first Israeli leg amputee to finish in Kona is also attributed to those reports. It concerns this World Championship course, not every triathlon or Ironman event worldwide.
From Beit Hanoun to Learning to Walk Again
Shtonda was wounded in Beit Hanoun in November 2023 in an explosion in which four fellow soldiers fell. Shvoong gives the date as November 10, 2023. In a Mako interview published on August 21, 2026, he described losing his right leg above the knee and the prolonged rehabilitation that followed.
Mako identified him as a Duvdevan soldier and reported that he underwent 19 operations. In an N12 interview published on April 30, 2026, he said he moved from hospital treatment to rehabilitation at Tel Hashomer, where he began learning to walk again. Larger sporting goals came later.
His account begins with recovering basic abilities, rather than training for a triathlon. He told N12 about hiking in Iceland and climbing Kilimanjaro. Those experiences describe his own progress; they are not a medical forecast or a prescribed route for other wounded veterans.
Three Disciplines and Adapted Equipment
The full course comprises a 3.8 kilometer swim, a 180 kilometer bicycle ride and a 42.2 kilometer run. Moving between those disciplines also means changing the equipment used in the water, on the bicycle and during the marathon.
Shvoong reported that Shtonda cycled with an adaptation for his prosthesis and ran with a dedicated running prosthesis without a knee joint. It described his work with coach Tom Marmareli and the Step by Step project run by the Belev Echad organization. Before Kona, he completed a half Ironman in Valencia in April 2026.
Swimming had an additional role in his recovery. In the August 21, 2026, Mako interview, he described being in the water as calming, allowing him to focus on his thoughts and breathing. Moving without a prosthesis, crutches or a wheelchair gave him a particular sense of independence, he explained.
Remembering the Four Soldiers
In an earlier interview cited by Shvoong in its Kona coverage, Shtonda explained that part of his motivation was doing things his fallen friends could no longer do. He said he brought a unit flag bearing their names and photographs to competitions.
His sporting goal was therefore linked to a personal act of remembrance. Crossing the finish line did not erase the loss of his four comrades or the rehabilitation behind it. The achievement stands alongside that history, without making a race result a measure of another veteran's recovery.
The Wider Role of Sport in Rehabilitation
The Zahal Disabled Veterans Organization's Beit Halochem centers combine sporting activity with rehabilitation and social support. A Jerusalem Post report published on June 16, 2026, described how adapted sport helps veterans return to activity and, in some cases, pursue competition.
It profiled Ido Kander, also wounded in Beit Hanoun in November 2023. After rehabilitation and a gradual return to cycling and running, he completed a five kilometer event at the Tel Aviv Marathon in February 2026. He later set a goal of an Olympic distance triathlon.
Kander emphasized that rehabilitation does not follow a straight path. Shtonda's Kona finish likewise followed sustained personal effort, adapted equipment and support. It marks a goal he reached, without defining what successful rehabilitation must look like for everyone else.
