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 and for the first time badminton.
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 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.
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.
Robert John Steckle was a Greco-Roman and freestyle wrestler from Canada who competed in three consecutive summer Olympic Games, starting in 1952. He carried the Canadian flag at the opening ceremonies of the 1956 Summer Olympic Games in Melbourne, Australia, the only Canadian wrestler ever to do so. He was born in Kitchener, Ontario.
Lindsey Durlacher was an American Greco-Roman wrestler, mixed martial arts fighter, and judo athlete whose career highlight was a bronze medal at the 2006 FILA Wrestling World Championships at 55 kg. He was among the most accomplished collegiate wrestlers in Illinois history.
Nickolaus "Mickey" Hirschl was an Austrian Olympic-medal-winning wrestler. He was also a European heavyweight wrestling champion, and for 10 years he held the title of Austrian heavyweight wrestling champion. He was also an Austrian shot put and discus junior champion, Austrian heavyweight weightlifting junior champion, and for seven years the Austrian pentathlon champion.
Abraham Kurland was a Danish Olympic silver medalist wrestler. Kurland won 12 Denmark championships from 1932-49, won a silver medal in lightweight Greco Roman wrestling at the 1932 Olympics and a gold medal in lightweight at the 1932 Maccabiah Games in Mandatory Palestine, won a gold medal at the 1934 European Wrestling Championships in Greco-Roman and a bronze medal in freestyle, and won a silver medal at the 1935 European Wrestling Championships.
David Zilberman is a Canadian Olympic freestyle wrestler. He is a two-time Canadian champion. In 2003, he won a bronze medal at the Pan American Championships, wrestling at 84 kg. In 2004, he won a silver medal at the FISU World University Championships, at 84 kg. In 2005, he won the Canada Cup gold medal, and the Commonwealth Wrestling Championships silver medal. He took 5th in the 2006 World Championships, and won a silver medal at the 2006 FISU World University Championships. He won a gold medal at the 2007 Senior Canadian National Championships.
Mark Berger is a Ukrainian-born Canadian judoka. He won the gold medal in the men's heavyweight judo event at the 1983 Pan American Games and a bronze medal at the 1984 Summer Olympics. He also competed in sambo, winning silver at the 1988 World Championships.
Oleg Ladik is a Ukrainian-born Canadian former Olympic wrestler, who won a gold medal in the 1993 Maccabiah Games in Israel. He was born in Kyiv, Ukraine, and lives in Montreal, Quebec.
Ari Michael Taub is a Canadian Olympic Greco-Roman wrestler. He won two gold medals at the 1989 Maccabiah Games in Israel, and a gold medal at the 2007 Commonwealth Wrestling Championship. He competed for Canada in the 2008 Summer Olympics.
Garry Kallos is a Canadian former wrestler who competed in the 1984 Summer Olympics and won five gold medals at the Maccabiah Games in Israel, and sambo competitor who won a gold medal at the Pan American Games.
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.
Phil Oberlander is a Canadian wrestler. At the 1961 Maccabiah Games in Israel, he won a gold medal in the middleweight class in Greco-Roman wrestling. Collegiately, Oberlander wrestled at Cornell University. He competed in the men's freestyle welterweight division at the 1964 Summer Olympics, representing Canada.
Howard Michael Stupp is a Canadian former wrestler. An Olympian, he won five Canadian championships, two Pan Am Games titles, two Canadian Interuniversity Athletics Union championships, and four titles at the Maccabiah Games in Israel. After graduating from McGill University, he worked at the International Olympic Committee, including 35 years as the Director of Legal Affairs.
