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1981 Maccabiah Games

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11th Maccabiah
Host cityTel Aviv, Israel
Nations35[1]
Debuting countries Bermuda
 Puerto Rico
 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 venueRamat 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 total medals.

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

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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

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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 épée, 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

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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 total medals.[15]

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

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k "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. ^ a b c d e "U.S. Five Captures Maccabiah Crown". The New York Times. July 16, 1981.
  15. ^ a b c d "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. ^ a b c "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. ^ a b "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. ^ a b "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. Archived from the original on November 6, 2012. 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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