 | |
| Host city | Tel Aviv, Israel |
|---|---|
| Nations | 33 |
| Debuting countries |  Kyrgyzstan  Malta  Slovakia |
| Athletes | 5,500 |
| Events | 34 |
| Opened by | Kerri Strug |
| Main venue | Ramat 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.
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]
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 Hayarkon Park. [6]
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]
The number in parentheses indicates the number of participants that community contributed.
Australia (400)
Austria 
Brazil 
Canada 
Chile 
Colombia 
Costa Rica 
Croatia 
Czech Republic 
Finland 
France 
Georgia 
Hungary 
Israel Kyrgyzstan 
Lithuania Malta 
Mexico 
Moldova 
Netherlands 
New Zealand 
Norway 
Panama 
Paraguay 
Poland 
Portugal 
Romania 
Russia 
Singapore Slovakia 
Spain 
Sweden 
Switzerland 
South Africa 
Turkey 
United Kingdom 
United States 
Sport in Israel plays an important role in Israeli culture and is supported by the Ministry of Culture and Sport. The most popular sports in Israel have traditionally been Association football (mainly) and basketball (secondly) - with the first being considered the national sport - in both of which Israeli professional teams have been competitive internationally. Israel is an international center for Jewish sport around the world and since 1932 the Maccabiah Games, an Olympic-style event for Jewish athletes, is held in the country. Despite Israel's location in the Asian continent, the Israeli sports associations in various sports belong to the European associations due to the refusal of many Arab Asian countries to compete with Israeli athletes.
The 16th Maccabiah Games, the Opening Ceremony was held in Jerusalem at Teddy Stadium, while the re-building process of the collapsed bridge and investigations into the collapse continued. The 16th Maccabiah attracted more than 5,000 athletes from 46 countries.
The 17th Maccabiah Games, held in Israel, were an incarnation of the 'Jewish Olympics.' They attracted the largest attendance of any Maccabiah Games, including more than 900 representatives from the United States, almost 500 from Australia, and more than 2,000 from Israel, bringing the total participants to more than 7,700 from 55 countries.
The 6th Maccabiah Games were held in Tel Aviv, Israel in 1961, with 1,100 athletes from 27 countries competing in 18 sports. The Games were officially opened in an Opening Ceremony on August 29, 1961, in Ramat Gan Stadium by Israeli President Yitzhak Ben-Zvi before a crowd of 30,000. The closing ceremony took place on September 5, 1961, at the stadium before a crowd of 40,000, with Israeli Prime Minister David Ben Gurion telling the crowd that he hoped that in the future athletes from North Africa, Poland, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, and the Soviet Union would also compete. The United States won 58 gold medals, Israel won 28 gold medals, and South Africa was third with 11 gold medals. American sportscaster Mel Allen narrated a film about the 1961 Games.
At the 10th Maccabiah Games in Israel, more than 2,800 athletes from 34 countries participated in 26 different sports, including chess and bridge.
Twenty-one countries sent 980 athletes to compete in the 1957 5th Maccabiah Games, an international Jewish athletics competition similar to the Olympics. The opening ceremony on September 15, 1957, was held in Ramat Gan Stadium, with athletes parading before Israeli President Yitzhak Ben Zvi.
The 3rd Maccabiah took place during Sukkot from September 27 to October 8, 1950, with 17 countries competing. It was the third edition of the Maccabiah Games and the first held since the independence of the State of Israel; 15 years after the previous Maccabiah. Israel won the 1950 Maccabiah Games, Great Britain was second, South Africa third, the United States fourth, Canada fifth, and Austria sixth.
Eight hundred ninety athletes representing 23 countries competed in the 1953 4th Maccabiah Games, held September 20 to 29, in 18 branches of sports.
The 11th Maccabiah Games brought 3,450 athletes to Israel from 35 nations. 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. Representative Jack Kemp and a supporter of Israel, marched with the United States team. 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.
The 7th Maccabiah Games in 1965 saw 1,500 athletes from 29 different countries compete in 21 sports. It was the first Maccabiah Games for Iran, Jamaica, Peru, and Venezuela. The United States delegation won the most gold medals, followed by Israel, the United Kingdom, South Africa, Mexico and the Netherlands, Southern Rhodesia, Australia, Argentina and Italy, and Brazil, Canada, Denmark, and Sweden with one each.
At the 8th Maccabiah Games from July 29 to August 7, 1969, 1,450 athletes from 27 countries competed in 22 sports in Israel. The final gold medal count was the United States in first place (64), Israel second, and Great Britain third (11).
The 12th Maccabiah Games brought over 4,000 athletes to Israel from 38 nations to compete in 28 sports.
The 1st Maccabiah was the first edition of the Maccabiah, which was held in Mandatory Palestine from March 28 to April 2, 1932. The games were in commemoration of the 1800th anniversary of the Bar Kokhba revolt, a major rebellion by the Jews of Judaea Province against the Roman Empire. Despite many obstacles and setbacks, the first Maccabiah was regarded as a great success. Poland led the scoreboard, the United States was second, and Austria was third.
The 9th Maccabiah Games, which were held from July 9 to 19, 1973, were opened in Ramat Gan Stadium, Israel. Spain and Costa Rica made their debuts in the Games. A total of 1,800 athletes competed on behalf of 27 countries in 20 branches of sport, in 30 venues across Israel. The Games took place ten months after the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, where 11 Israeli athletes and coaches were slain during the Munich Massacre. The United States won 76 gold medals, and Israel was next with 60 gold medals.
The 13th Maccabiah Games brought 4,500 athletes to Israel from 45 nations.
The 14th Maccabiah Games brought 5,100 athletes to Israel from 48 nations.
The 18th Maccabiah Games, were held in July 2009. According to the organizing committee these were the largest games held yet. These Games were the world's fifth-largest sporting event, behind the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, World Police and Fire Games, and Universiade. On the 13 July, more than 6,000 Jewish athletes from all over the world joined Team Israel's 3,000 participants at the Ramat Gan Stadium in Tel Aviv District, Israel, for the opening ceremony. American swimmer Jason Lezak was given the honor of lighting the Maccabiah torch at the Opening Ceremony.
The 19th Maccabiah were held during July 18 to 30, 2013.
The 2017 Maccabiah Games, also referred to as the 20th Maccabiah Games, were the 20th edition of the Maccabiah Games. They took place from 4 to 17 July 2017, in Israel. The Maccabiah Games are open to Jewish athletes from around the world, and to all Israeli citizens regardless of their religion. A total of 10,000 athletes competed, a Maccabiah Games record, making the 2017 Maccabiah Games the third-largest sporting competition in the world. The athletes were from 85 countries, also a record. Countries represented for the first time included the Bahamas, Barbados, Cambodia, the Cayman Islands, Haiti, Malta, Morocco, the Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, and Trinidad. The athletes competed in 45 sports.
The 2022 Maccabiah Games took place in Israel from July 14–25, 2022, and are also referred to as the 21st Maccabiah Games. The Maccabiah Games are open to Jewish athletes from around the world, and to all Israeli citizens regardless of their religion. Israeli former Olympic judo medalist Arik Zeevi served as Maccabiah Chairman. Approximately 10,000 athletes from 80 countries competed in 42 sports categories.
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