1981 Maccabiah Games

The 1981 11th Maccabiah Games brought 3,450 athletes to Israel from 30 nations.

11th Maccabiah
Host cityTel Aviv, Israel
Nations participating34
Debuting countries Bermuda
 Puerto Rico
 New Zealand
Athletes participating3450
Opening ceremonyTorch lit by Tal Brody
Main venueRamat Gan Stadium

The 30-sports menu included rugby union,[1] sailing and softball for the first time.

New facilities for squash, wrestling, karate, and judo were introduced.

History

The Maccabiah Games were first held in 1932.[2] In 1961, they were declared a "Regional Sports Event" by, and under the auspices and supervision of, the International Olympic Committee.[3][4][5]

Notable medalists
Israeli high jumping champion Gideon Harmat at the Games.

Mitch Gaylord, gymnastics, won 6 gold medals; he later went on to win Olympic gold.

Also, American tennis players Brad Gilbert (in doubles, with Jon Levine) and Andrea Leand earned gold medals,[6] and Shlomo Glickstein won the men's singles in tennis (defeating Brad Gilbert),[7] the first Israeli to win a Maccabiah tennis championship. In golf, American Corey Pavin won two gold medals.[8][9][10][11]

Mark Berger, who three years later was to go on to win a silver medal in the Olympics, won a gold medal in judo. David Blatt, Danny Schayes, and Willie Sims won a gold medal with Team USA in basketball.[12] American fencers Paul Friedberg won a gold medal for the US in saber, Peter Schifrin won a silver medal in epee, and Elaine Cheris won an individual silver medal and a team gold medal in foil. British sabre fencer Paul Klenerman, who three years later fenced in the Olympics, also medaled.[13][14]

In track and field, James Espir of Great Britain, who earlier that year had run a mile in 3 minutes 56.7 seconds, thereby becoming the fastest Jewish miler ever, won the 1500 metres and 5000 metres gold medals on successive days. At the Games, Maya Kalle-Bentzur of Israel won the gold medal in the women's long jump.[15]

In swimming Lior Birkan won 3 gold and 2 silver medals.

Participating communities

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

References
  1. Bath, Richard (ed.) The Complete Book of Rugby (Seven Oaks Ltd, 1997 ISBN 1-86200-013-1), p.68
  2. A brief history of the Maccabiah Games
  3. Helen Jefferson Lenskyj (2012). Gender Politics and the Olympic Industry. Palgrave Macmillan.
  4. Mitchell G. Bard and Moshe Schwartz (2005). 1001 Facts Everyone Should Know about Israel p. 84.
  5. "History of the Maccabiah Games". Maccabi Australia.
  6. Maccabi USA: History
  7. "U.S. Five Captures Maccabiah Crown" - The New York Times
  8. Bard, Mitchell Geoffrey; Schwartz, Moshe (2005). One thousand one facts everyone should know about Israel. Retrieved April 4, 2011.
  9. Goldberg, Dan (March 11, 2011). "'Time to move on'". Haaretz. Retrieved April 4, 2011.
  10. Romine, Rich (February 23, 1982). "Pavin Invited to Masters". The Press-Courier. Retrieved April 4, 2011.
  11. Kessel, Yoram (June 29, 1989). "Argentine Golfers Sign Up At The Eleventh Hour". The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved April 4, 2011.
  12. "Danny Schayes Appointed As A Member of the Basketball Staff For The 2018 International Maccabi Youth Games" – Maccabi USA
  13. Jewish Post 29 August 1984
  14. Jewish Life
  15. "Track and Field Results Maccabiah Games at Tel Aviv, July 13". UPI.
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