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1997 Maccabiah Games

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15th Maccabiah
Host cityTel Aviv, Israel
Nations33
Debuting countries Kyrgyzstan
 Malta
 Slovakia
Athletes5,500
Events34
Opened byKerri Strug
Main venueRamat Gan Stadium

The 15th Maccabiah Games are remembered for being marred by a bridge collapse that killed several participants.

The Maccabiah had more than 5,000 athletes from 33 countries competing in 36 sports. New sports for the Games included beach volleyball, ice hockey, and taekwondo.

History

The Maccabiah Games were first held in 1932.[1] In 1961, they were declared a "Regional Sports Event" by, and under the auspices and supervision of, the International Olympic Committee.[2][3][4] Among other Olympic and world champions, swimmer Mark Spitz won 10 Maccabiah gold medals before gaining his first of nine Olympic gold medals.[5]

Bridge collapse

Main article: Maccabiah bridge collapse

The Games were marred by the collapse of the bridge, causing some athletes on the bridge who were marching into the Ramat Gan Stadium in Tel Aviv District for the Opening Ceremony to fall into the highly polluted Yarkon River; the polluted waters were considered a major factor in the deaths and injuries.[6] Four Australians, Greg Small, Elizabeth Sawicki, Yetty Bennett, and Warren Zines, were killed when the bridge, supporting the Australian delegation, collapsed. Sixty others were injured.

After the accident, both the Opening Ceremony and the Games themselves continued with spectators in the stadium not given any information as to what had happened. The ceremony was delayed, and then only the torch lighting aspect of the ceremony took place. Spectators became aware that something was wrong when none of the scheduled events took place, including the march of the athletes, and when they listened to the radio. Many inquests were completed into the collapse of the bridge by both Israeli and Australian authorities and Yoram Eyal was found guilty of criminal negligence.[7] To commemorate the tenth anniversary of the disaster, on July 20, 2007, a ceremony was held at Tel Aviv's Yarkon Park.[6]

Notable competitors

In track and field, Michael Halika of Israel, a future Olympian and World Championship bronze medalist, won the 800m freestyle and the 400m individual medley, among a total of 5 individual and 2 team gold medals in the juniors.[8] Israeli Yoav Bruck won gold medals in the 50-meter freestyle and 100-meter freestyle.[9]

American 1992 Olympian Tamara Levinson earned 5 golds in rhythmic gymnastics. David Bluthenthal and Ryan Lexer won a gold medal in basketball with Team USA. [10][11] American Stuart Krohn won a gold medal in men's rugby team.

Daniela Krukower from Argentina won a silver medal in judo at U66.[12] Israeli Gil Ofer won a gold medal in judo in the U78, and Israeli Ariel Ze'evi won a bronze medal in the U95.[12] Canadian Olia Berger won a bronze medal for Canada in judo in the O72, and Canadian Olympic bronze medalist Mark Berger competed in judo.[12][13]

In ice hockey, Team Canada won the gold medal, with National Hockey League players David Nemirovsky and Brian Wilks, as well as players Greg Gardner, Adam Henrich, Michael Henrich, Mikhail Nemirovsky, and Cory Pecker.[13][14][15] Hockey player Billy Jaffe was team captain for the silver medal-winning Team USA, which also had on the team National Hockey League defenseman Mike Hartman and Gabe Polsky.[16][17]

Australian first-class cricketer Michael Klinger won a gold medal, when he was 17 years old.[18] Australian Jonathan Moss competed in cricket.[19]

Shawn Lipman was the flag bearer for the U.S., represented the United States in rugby union, was team captain, and was selected as MVP of the Rugby Event, as the team won a gold medal.[20]

Canada's Olympian Peter Bakonyi won a silver medal.[21]

In soccer, Lev Kirshner played for the United States.[22]

Olympic long-distance runner Dan Middleman competed for the U.S.[16] Tennis player Dave Abelson competed for Canada.[13] David Zalcberg competed for Australia in table tennis.[23][24][25] Olympic champion sabre fencer Vadym Gutzeit competed for Ukraine.[16]

Participating communities

The number in parentheses indicates the number of participants that community contributed.

References

  1. ^ "The 20th Maccabiah Games: A brief History (Part 1)," The Canadian Jewish News.
  2. ^ Helen Jefferson Lenskyj (2012). Gender Politics and the Olympic Industry. Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 9781137291158.
  3. ^ Mitchell G. Bard and Moshe Schwartz (2005). 1001 Facts Everyone Should Know about Israel p. 84.
  4. ^ "History of the Maccabiah Games". Maccabi Australia. Archived from the original on 2016-10-20. Retrieved 2017-07-14.
  5. ^ "At Maccabiah Games, 300 Jewish American athletes become bar and bat mitzvah". The Forward. July 14, 2022.
  6. ^ a b "Bridge Disaster Commemorated", Dateline World jewry, World Jewish Congress, September, 2007
  7. ^ Ha'aretz 29 June 2005 Maccabiah official convicted over bridge disaster accedes to Australian demand By Charlotte Halle
  8. ^ "19th Maccabiah Games - One". yumpu.com.
  9. ^ "Bruck, Yoav : Jews in Sports @ Virtual Museum". Archived from the original on 2012-08-13. Retrieved 2017-07-14.
  10. ^ Cohen, Vered; Orgad, Yaniv (February 4, 2010). "Basketball / For Bluthenthal, Third Time's the Charm". Haaretz. Archived from the original on September 24, 2015. Retrieved March 16, 2018.
  11. ^ Drape, Joe (March 24, 2001). "COLLEGE BASKETBALL: EAST; U.S.C.'s Bluthenthal Provides Leadership". The New York Times. Archived from the original on July 15, 2012. Retrieved September 30, 2011.
  12. ^ a b c "JudoInside - Maccabiah Games Tel Aviv Event". www.judoinside.com.
  13. ^ a b c 1997 Maccabiah Delegation
  14. ^ "Maccabi Team Canada". www.jewishindependent.ca.
  15. ^ Gellar, Raphael. "Peres hosts Maccabiah's Olympian athletes". The Times of Israel.
  16. ^ a b c "Jewish Post 8 January 1997 — Hoosier State Chronicles: Indiana's Digital Historic Newspaper Program". newspapers.library.in.gov.
  17. ^ "Billy Jaffe Islanders Television Analyst". MSG.com. Archived from the original on 2010-01-02. Retrieved 2010-04-26.
  18. ^ "How the 'Jewish Bradman' realised his 20-year wait for the baggy green". jewishnews.co.uk.
  19. ^ "Jews and cricket". The Jerusalem Post.
  20. ^ "US Maccabiah Rugby » Shawn Lipman".
  21. ^ Leible Hershfield (1980). The Jewish Athlete; A Nostalgic View, p. 196.
  22. ^ "Lev Kirshner - Men's Soccer Coach". SDSU Athletics.
  23. ^ "Maccabiah survivor beats the odds". August 12, 2008.
  24. ^ "Jewish Ping-Pong Diplomacy Takes Beijing". The Forward. August 18, 2008.
  25. ^ "August 22, 2008 by Jewish Press - Issuu". issuu.com.
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