Personal information | |||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Nationality | Israeli | ||||||||||||||
Born | 1946 Baghdad | ||||||||||||||
Sport | |||||||||||||||
Country | Israel | ||||||||||||||
Sport | Athletics | ||||||||||||||
Medal record
|
Aviva Balas is an Israeli athlete. She won the silver medal in the 400 m in the 1970 Asian Games. [1] [2] [3] At the 1973 Maccabiah Games, she won the gold medal in the women's 400 m race. [4]
In the summer of 1972, Balas set national records in the 400 m, 600 m and 800 m. Two of these records were not beaten until more than 20 years later, and the 600 m record was not beaten until 2024. Despite her good results, she wasn't selected for the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich. However, thanks to the support of the German Athletics Association, which at the time was promoting her career, she was able to live in the Olympic village during the Games. Balas almost became a victim of the massacre by Palestinian militants, having originally planned to spend the fateful night in the Israeli delegation building. She was a good friend of the victims, Yossef Romano and Ze'ev Friedman. [5]
It was also in Munich that Balas also met her future husband, the Swiss rower Nicolas Lindecker. She has lived in Switzerland since the mid-1970s, working as a physical education teacher. [5]
Balas' exact date of birth is unknown. Official documents mention the year 1946, but she believes she is older and that her and her sister's dates have been mixed up – her older sister is younger according to the documents. She first grew up in Baghdad as part of the big Jewish community in Iraq. Her family had to flee the country and move to Israel in 1951. [5]
Renate Stecher is a German sprint runner and a triple Olympic champion. She held 34 world records and was the first woman to run 100 metres within 11 seconds.
The 1972 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XX Olympiad and officially branded as Munich 1972, were an international multi-sport event held in Munich, West Germany, from 26 August to 11 September 1972. It was the second Summer Olympics to be held in Germany, after the 1936 Games in Berlin, which had taken place under the Nazi rule. Germany became only the second country at that point after the United States to have two different cities host the Summer Olympics.
Abigail Golda Hoffman, is a Canadian former track and field athlete.
Esther Roth-Shahamorov is a former Israeli track and field athlete. She specialized in the 100-meter hurdles and the 100-meter sprint.
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 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 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.
Kamaljeet Kaur Kooner nee Sandhu is a female Indian athlete who won gold medal at 1970 Bangkok Asian Games in 400 m race. She ran the distance in 57.3 seconds. She is the first Indian woman athlete to win an individual gold medal at Asian games. She is from Punjab state in India. She received Padma Shri award in 1971. In 1971, she was one of the finalists in the World University Games held at Turin, Italy, in 400 metres race. She participated in the Women's 400 metres at the 1972 Munich Olympics, bowing out in the heats. Kamaljeet retired from athletics in 1973. She was also a national-level basketball and inter-varsity hockey player. She went to the 1982 Asian Games as the coach of the Indian women's sprint team. She is also an alumna of Scindia Kanya Vidyalaya.
Wendy Weinberg Weil is an American former competition swimmer who was an Olympic Games, Pan American Games, and Maccabiah Games medalist.
Donald Eugene Blair-Sanford is an American-Israeli Olympic sprinter, who specialises in the 400 metre dash.
Wilhelmina Catharina Maria Martina "Wilma" van Gool, commonly known as Wilma van den Berg, is a Dutch former sprinter, two-time Olympian, silver medalist in the European Championships and Universiade, Dutch national champion, and 1969 Dutch Female Athlete of the Year.
Andrea "Andi" Murez is an Olympic swimmer. Born in the United States, she represents Israel internationally and competed for her country of birth in the past. She swam for Israel at the 2016 Summer Olympics and the 2020 Summer Olympics. She represented Israel for the third time at the 2024 Paris Olympics where she was one of the flag bearers together with the Olympic judoka Peter Paltchik.
Yvonne Saunders-Mondesire is a Canadian former track and field athlete. A versatile athlete, she competed in women's pentathlon, long jump, high jump, 400 metres and 800 metres. She competed internationally for Canada, Jamaica, and England during her career.
Hana Shezifi is an Israeli former Olympic runner.
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.
Diana Vaisman is a Belarusian-born Israeli track and field athlete and sprinter. She holds the Israeli national record in the 100 metre sprint.
Yuval Wischnitzer is an Israeli athlete. He won silver and bronze medals in 5000 m in the Asian Games.
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.
{{cite news}}
: CS1 maint: url-status (link)