1997 Maccabiah Games

15th edition of Jewish multi-sport event 15th Maccabiah 1997 Maccabiah logo.jpg 200px Tel Aviv, Israel 33 5,500 34 Ramat Gan Stadium 14th Maccabiah 16th Maccabiah Torchbearers * Kerri Strug Miki BerkovichFifteenth Maccabiah Maccabiah 21 2009-09-07 https://www.maccabiah.com/en/maccabiah/maccabiah-history/fifteenth-maccabiah The 15th Maccabiah Games was an international Jewish multi-sport event held in Israel in 1997, featuring over 5,000 athletes from 33 countries. New sports for the Games included beach volleyball, ice hockey, and taekwondo. The 1997 Maccabiah was marred by a bridge collapse ahead of the opening ceremony, resulting in the deaths of four members of the Australian delegation and injuring 60 others. History The Maccabiah Games were first held in 1932."The 20th Maccabiah Games: A brief History (Part 1)," The Canadian Jewish News. In 1961, they were declared a "Regional Sports Event" by, and under the auspices and supervision of, the International Olympic Committee.https://books.google.com/books?id=nTHRB6Fj_4gC&q=maccabiah+games+olympics+regional+sport+event&pg=PA56 Gender Politics and the Olympic Industry Helen Jefferson Lenskyj Palgrave Macmillan 2012 9781137291158Mitchell G. Bard and Moshe Schwartz (2005). 1001 Facts Everyone Should Know about Israel p. 84.History of the Maccabiah Games http://www.maccabi.com.au/Maccabiah/Page/1591/Maccabiah-Games-History/History-of-the-Maccabiah-Games.cfm Maccabi Australia 2017-07-14 2016-10-20 https://web.archive.org/web/20161020064514/http://www.maccabi.com.au/Maccabiah/Page/1591/Maccabiah-Games-History/History-of-the-Maccabiah-Games.cfm dead Among other Olympic and world champions, swimmer Mark Spitz won 10 Maccabiah gold medals before gaining his first of nine Olympic gold medals.https://forward.com/news/510411/at-the-maccabiah-300-jewish-american-athletes-become-bar-and-bat-mitzvah/ At Maccabiah Games, 300 Jewish American athletes become bar and bat mitzvah July 14, 2022 The Forward Bridge collapse Maccabiah bridge collapse 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."Bridge Disaster Commemorated", Dateline World jewry, World Jewish Congress, September, 2007 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.Ha'aretz 29 June 2005 Maccabiah official convicted over bridge disaster accedes to Australian demand By Charlotte Halle To commemorate the tenth anniversary of the disaster, on July 20, 2007, a ceremony was held at Tel Aviv's Yarkon Park. Notable competitors 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.https://www.yumpu.com/en/document/read/51229025/19th-maccabiah-games-one 19th Maccabiah Games - One yumpu.com Israeli Yoav Bruck won gold medals in the 50-meter freestyle and 100-meter freestyle.http://jewsinsports.org/olympics.asp?ID=134 Bruck, Yoav : Jews in Sports @ Virtual Museum 2017-07-14 2012-08-13 https://web.archive.org/web/20120813094628/http://www.jewsinsports.org/olympics.asp?ID=134 dead 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. https://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/sports/basketball-for-bluthenthal-third-time-s-the-charm-1.262733 Basketball / For Bluthenthal, Third Time's the Charm Vered Cohen Yaniv Orgad February 4, 2010 March 16, 2018 Haaretz dead https://web.archive.org/web/20150924232955/http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/sports/basketball-for-bluthenthal-third-time-s-the-charm-1.262733 September 24, 2015 mdy-allhttp://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=FB0E12FA39580C778EDDAA0894D9404482 https://archive.today/20120715141834/http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=FB0E12FA39580C778EDDAA0894D9404482 dead July 15, 2012 COLLEGE BASKETBALL: EAST; U.S.C.'s Bluthenthal Provides Leadership March 24, 2001 September 30, 2011 The New York Times Joe Drape American Stuart Krohn won a gold medal in men's rugby team. Daniela Krukower from Argentina won a silver medal in judo at U66.https://www.judoinside.com/event/6930/1997_Maccabiah_Games_Tel_Aviv/judo-results JudoInside - Maccabiah Games Tel Aviv Event www.judoinside.com Israeli Gil Ofer won a gold medal in judo in the U78, and Israeli Ariel Ze'evi won a bronze medal in the U95. Canadian Olia Berger won a bronze medal for Canada in judo in the O72, and Canadian Olympic bronze medalist Mark Berger competed in judo.1997 Maccabiah Delegation 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.http://www.jewishindependent.ca/oldsite/archives/dec12/archives12dec07-04.html Maccabi Team Canada www.jewishindependent.cahttps://www.timesofisrael.com/peres-hosts-maccabiahs-olympian-athletes/ Peres hosts Maccabiah's Olympian athletes Raphael Gellar The Times of Israel 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.https://newspapers.library.in.gov/?a=d&d=JPOST19970108-01.1.20&e=-------en-20--1--txt-txIN------- Jewish Post 8 January 1997 — Hoosier State Chronicles: Indiana's Digital Historic Newspaper Program newspapers.library.in.gov http://www.msg.com/television/billy-jaffe.html Billy Jaffe Islanders Television Analyst MSG.com 2010-04-26 https://web.archive.org/web/20100102042648/http://msg.com/television/billy-jaffe.html 2010-01-02 dead Australian first-class cricketer Michael Klinger won a gold medal, when he was 17 years old.http://www.jewishnews.co.uk/how-the-jewish-bradman-realised-his-20-year-wait-for-the-baggy-green/ How the 'Jewish Bradman' realised his 20-year wait for the baggy green jewishnews.co.uk Australian Jonathan Moss competed in cricket.https://www.jpost.com/opinion/op-ed-contributors/jews-and-cricket-321564 Jews and cricket The Jerusalem Post 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.http://usmaccabiahrugby.com/player/shawn-lipman/ US Maccabiah Rugby » Shawn Lipman Canada's Olympian Peter Bakonyi won a silver medal.Leible Hershfield (1980). The Jewish Athlete; A Nostalgic View, p. 196. In soccer, Lev Kirshner played for the United States.https://goaztecs.com/sports/mens-soccer/roster/coaches/lev-kirshner/534 Lev Kirshner - Men's Soccer Coach SDSU Athletics Olympic long-distance runner Dan Middleman competed for the U.S. Tennis player Dave Abelson competed for Canada. David Zalcberg competed for Australia in table tennis.https://www.jta.org/2008/08/12/culture/maccabiah-survivor-beats-the-odds Maccabiah survivor beats the odds August 12, 2008https://forward.com/culture/14011/jewish-pingpong-diplomacy-takes-beijing/ Jewish Ping-Pong Diplomacy Takes Beijing August 18, 2008 The Forwardhttps://issuu.com/jewishpress7/docs/082208 August 22, 2008 by Jewish Press - Issuu issuu.com Olympic champion sabre fencer Vadym Gutzeit competed for Ukraine. Participating communities The number in parentheses indicates the number of participants that community contributed. 13em Australia (400) Austria Brazil Canada Chile Colombia civil Costa Rica Croatia Czech Republic Finland France Georgia 1990 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 References External links Summaries of each of the Games https://web.archive.org/web/20170610090448/http://www.jewishsports.net/the_maccabiah_games.htm 2017-06-10 Maccabiah Games Maccabiah Games Category:Maccabiah Games Category:1990s in Tel Aviv