Background
Ze'evi is Jewish, and was born and raised in Bnei Brak, a predominantly orthodox Jewish city in the Tel Aviv metropolitan area.
Ze'evi is Jewish, and was born and raised in Bnei Brak, a predominantly orthodox Jewish city in the Tel Aviv metropolitan area.
While growing up, he trained in the local Judo club in his neighborhood, together with his older brother, Roni, who was also the club's first local gold medal pioneer after having finished first in the national Israeli Judo Championships.
Ze'evi, a dan 6 black belt in Judo, has had a long and successful career competing in half-heavyweight Judo competitions. He is an Olympic bronze medal finalist in the 2004 Summer Olympics Judo 100 kg class in Athens. His current coach is Alex Ahskenazy.
Despite the lack of advanced training facilities, Ze'evi continued training in his local club and steadily closed the gap to world class level, and began competing abroad. In his personal life, Ze'evi obtained a LLB degree from the Interdisciplinary Center college, in Herzliya. He also hosted a sports television show for the Israeli Broadcasting Authority.
Ze'evi placed 5th competing for Israel at the 2000 Summer Olympics in the men's 100 kg division, before winning the bronze medal representing Israel at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens in the men's 100 kg division. He missed the 2005 World championships in Cairo due to a shoulder injury, and subsequently underwent surgery to repair the damage. Ze'evi told the Israeli media he does not want to end his career without a victory (probably hinting at the Judo World Championships in 2009).
According to the International Judo Federation's World Ranking List, as of April 2012, Zeevi was ranked # 8.