1981 Maccabiah Games

Last updated
11th Maccabiah
1981 Maccabiah logo.jpg
Host city Tel Aviv, Israel
Nations35 [1]
Debuting countriesFlag of Bermuda.svg  Bermuda
Flag of Puerto Rico (1952-1995).svg  Puerto Rico
Flag of New Zealand.svg  New Zealand
Athletes3,500 [1]
Events31 sports [1]
OpeningJuly 7, 1981 [1]
ClosingJuly 16, 1981, in Jerusalem; Israeli President Yitzhak Navon [1]
Opened byTorch lit by Tal Brody [2]
Main venue Ramat Gan Stadium

The 11th Maccabiah Games brought 3,450 athletes to Israel from 35 nations. [1] The Opening Ceremony was held on July 7, 1981, before a crowd of 53,000 and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin in Ramat Gan Stadium, with 3,500 Jewish athletes parading past him. [1] Representative Jack Kemp (R; New York) and a supporter of Israel, marched with the United States team. [1] Israel won the most medals (199), with 65 gold. The United States won 188 medals, 85 gold. South Africa, Britain, and Canada had the next-most number of total medals.

Contents

The 31-sports menu included rugby union, [3] 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. [4] In 1961, they were declared a "Regional Sports Event" by, and under the auspices and supervision of, the International Olympic Committee. [5] [6] [7] Among other Olympic and world champions, swimmer Mark Spitz won 10 Maccabiah gold medals before earning his first of nine Olympic gold medals. [8]

Notable competitors

Israeli high jumping champion Gideon Harmat at the Games. Flickr - Government Press Office (GPO) - Israeli High Jumping Champion Gideon Harmat.jpg
Israeli high jumping champion Gideon Harmat at the Games.

In gymnastics, American Mitch Gaylord won 6 gold medals; he later went on to win Olympic gold. American Olympian Abie Grossfeld was Team USA's coach. [9]

American tennis players Brad Gilbert (in doubles, with Jon Levine, over fellow Americans Rick Meyer and Paul Bernstein), Andrea Leand, and Jeff Klaparda earned gold medals. [10] [11] [12] Justin Gimelstob was an assistant coach of Team USA's tennis squad. [13] Israeli Shlomo Glickstein, who carried the Maccabiah torch into the stadium for the opening ceremony, won the men's singles in tennis (defeating Brad Gilbert), the first Israeli to win a Maccabiah tennis championship. [14] [1] [15] Americans Dana Gilbert and Donna Rubin won the women's doubles. [14]

In basketball, David Blatt, Danny Schayes (the first round draft pick of the NBA's Utah Jazz; carried the US flag in the opening ceremony), Al Walker, and Willie Sims won a gold medal with Team USA. [16] [17] [18]

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. [19] [20] Canadian future Olympian Shelley Steiner won a gold medal. [21]

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. [22] [23] [24] Maya Kalle-Bentzur of Israel won the gold medal in the women's long jump, and Israeli future Olympian Yehuda Zadok won the gold medal in the 10,000 m race. [25] Boris Djerassi of the United States won a gold medal in the hammer throw. [26] Dave Edge of Canada, a long distance runner who later competed in two Olympics, won a silver medal in the 10,000 m and a bronze medal in the mini-marathon. [27] Canadian Gordon Orlikow, who later was a bronze medalist in the decathlon at the Pan American Games, won a bronze medal in the decathlon and a silver medal in the 110 m hurdles. [15] [28]

Swimming for Israel at the age of 14, Israeli future Olympian Hadar Rubinstein won gold medals in the women's 100 m butterfly, and in the women's 200 m butterfly. [29] [30] [31] [32] In swimming Lior Birkan won 3 gold and 2 silver medals. Mexican Helen Plaschinski won gold medals in swimming in the 100 and 200 m freestyle. [24]

Mike Jeffries and Seth Roland represented the United States in soccer, winning a silver medal. [33] [14] Eli Ohana and Rafi Cohen represented Israel, winning a bronze medal.

In golf, American Corey Pavin won two gold medals. [34] [35] [36] [37]

Mark Berger, who three years later was to go on to win a silver medal in the Olympics, won a gold medal in wrestling, and a silver medal in judo. [27] [21] Canadian future Olympian Garry Kallos won two gold medals in wrestling, as did Canadian Olympian Howard Stupp. [21]

In cricket, Alan Ezekowitz competed for England. [38]

Participating communities

A total of 35 nations participated, in 31 sports, at 58 locations throughout Israel. [1] [15] Israel won the most medals (199), with 65 gold. [14] The United States won 188 medals, 85 gold. [14] South Africa, Britain, and Canada had the next-most number of total medals. [15]

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

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 "11th Maccabiah Games Begin". July 7, 1981 – via NYTimes.com.
  2. ↑ "Israel Highlights". December 11, 2010. Archived from the original on December 11, 2010. Retrieved June 15, 2017.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  3. ↑ Bath, Richard (ed.) The Complete Book of Rugby (Seven Oaks Ltd, 1997 ISBN   1-86200-013-1), p.68
  4. ↑ "A brief history of the Maccabiah Games". The Canadian Jewish News. June 19, 2017.
  5. ↑ Helen Jefferson Lenskyj (2012). Gender Politics and the Olympic Industry. Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN   9781137291158.
  6. ↑ Mitchell G. Bard and Moshe Schwartz (2005). 1001 Facts Everyone Should Know about Israel p. 84.
  7. ↑ "History of the Maccabiah Games". Maccabi Australia. Archived from the original on 2018-09-13.
  8. ↑ "At Maccabiah Games, 300 Jewish American athletes become bar and bat mitzvah". The Forward. July 14, 2022.
  9. ↑ "Grossfeld, Abraham Israel". encyclopedia.com.
  10. ↑ "U.S. cage squad tops Israel, 91–71". Bangor Daily News . July 16, 1981. p. 22. Retrieved 3 January 2016.
  11. ↑ "Maccabi USA: History". November 16, 2007. Archived from the original on 2007-11-16.
  12. ↑ "U.S. Five Captures Maccabiah Crown". The New York Times. July 16, 1981.
  13. ↑ Goldaper, Sam (July 5, 1981). "AN ATHLETE TESTS THE SCHOLARSHIP SYSTEM". The New York Times.
  14. 1 2 3 4 5 "U.S. Five Captures Maccabiah Crown". The New York Times. July 16, 1981.
  15. 1 2 3 4 "MACCABIAH GAMES END; ISRAEL'S 199 MEDALS LEAD". The New York Times. July 17, 1981.
  16. ↑ Blaustein, Esther (July 5, 1981). "Sports; COACH SET FOR ISRAELI GAMES". The New York Times.
  17. ↑ Goldaper, Sam (June 23, 1981). "Basketball Talent On Stage at Xavier; Xavier Provides a Basketball Showcase". The New York Times.
  18. ↑ "Danny Schayes Appointed As A Member of the Basketball Staff For The 2018 International Maccabi Youth Games".
  19. ↑ "Jewish Post". library.in.gov. 29 August 1984.
  20. ↑ "Jewish Life". Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America. July 30, 1982 – via Google Books.
  21. 1 2 3 "August 13, 1981, page 6". The Canadian Jewish News.
  22. ↑ "U.S. Five Captures Maccabiah Crown". The New York Times. 16 July 1981.
  23. ↑ "Track and Field Results, Maccabiah Jones At Tel Aviv, Israel, July 15". UPI.
  24. 1 2 "31 July 1981". Jewish Post.
  25. ↑ "Track and Field Results Maccabiah Games at Tel Aviv, July 13". UPI.
  26. ↑ "U.S. Takes 3 Golds; Soccer Team in Final". The New York Times. July 15, 1981.
  27. 1 2 "1981 Team Canada Delegation". Maccabi Canada. Retrieved 30 September 2022.
  28. ↑ "Track and Field Results Macabiah James At Tel Aviv, July 13". UPI. July 13, 1981.
  29. ↑ "The United States swimmers engaged the surprising Israeli squad..." UPI.
  30. ↑ "United States athletes hoped to increase their gold-medal catch..." UPI.
  31. ↑ "ISRAEL'S 199 MEDALS LEAD". The New York Times. 17 July 1981.
  32. ↑ "31 July 1981". Jewish Post.
  33. ↑ "Alumni News". Maccabi USA. Archived from the original on 14 July 2011. Retrieved 9 December 2010.
  34. ↑ Bard, Mitchell Geoffrey; Schwartz, Moshe (2005). One thousand one facts everyone should know about Israel. ISBN   9780742543584 . Retrieved April 4, 2011.
  35. ↑ Goldberg, Dan (March 11, 2011). "'Time to move on'". Haaretz. Retrieved April 4, 2011.
  36. ↑ Romine, Rich (February 23, 1982). "Pavin Invited to Masters". The Press-Courier. Retrieved April 4, 2011.
  37. ↑ Kessel, Yoram (June 29, 1989). "Argentine Golfers Sign Up At The Eleventh Hour". The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved April 4, 2011.
  38. ↑ "Full text of "The Jerusalem Post Magazine, 1981, Israel, English"".
  39. ↑ "11th Maccabiah 1981". Maccabi Canada.
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