1993 Maccabiah Games

The 14th Maccabiah Games brought 5,100 athletes to Israel from 48 nations.

14th Maccabiah

Host city	Tel Aviv, Israel
Nations	48
Debuting countries	Belarus  Croatia  Georgia  Portugal  Samoa  Ukraine
Athletes	5,100
Opened by	Yael Arad
Main venue	Ramat Gan Stadium
← 13th Maccabiah 15th Maccabiah →

Jewish athletes from Poland, Bulgaria, and Czechoslovakia participated for the first time after World War II, after the fall of the Iron Curtain. Athletes from the eight Republics of the former Soviet Union also participated.

History

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 earning his first of nine Olympic gold medals.^[5]

Opening ceremonies

A giant torch has been fixed in the Ramat Gan Stadium for this games and on.

Yael Arad, who had won a silver medal for Israel in judo at the Barcelona Olympics in 1992, lit the Maccabiah torch.

Notable competitors

In wrestling, Canadian Olympian Andy Borodow won two gold medals, one in freestyle and one in Greco Roman.^[6] Canadian future Olympian Oleg Ladik won a gold medal in wrestling.^[7]

In soccer, Lev Kirshner and Amos Magee played for the United States as it won a bronze medal.^[8][9]

American Stuart Krohn won a silver medal in men's rugby. Shawn Lipman represented the United States in rugby union, was team captain, and was selected as MVP of the Rugby Event, as the team won a silver medal.^[10]

In tennis, Michael Zimmerman and Giora Payes of the U.S. won the men's doubles gold medals.^[11] Eric Friedler and Stacey Schefflin competed in tennis for the United States.^[12][13] Damián Furmanski competed for Argentina in tennis.^[14]

Russian grandmaster Yuri Averbakh competed in chess.^[15]

Participating communities

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

•  Argentina
•  Australia
•  Austria
•  Belarus
•  Belgium
•  Brazil
•  Bulgaria
•  Canada
•  Colombia
•  Costa Rica
•  Croatia
•  Czechoslovakia
•  Denmark
•  Estonia
•  Finland
•  France
•  Georgia
•  Germany
•  Guatemala
•  Hong Kong
•  Hungary
•  India
•  Ireland
•  Israel
•  Italy
•  Latvia
•  Lithuania
•  Mexico
•  Netherlands
•  New Zealand
•  Norway
•  Panama
•  Paraguay
•  Peru
•  Poland
•  Portugal
•  Romania
•  Russia
•  Samoa
•  South Africa
•  South Korea
•  Spain
•  Sweden
•   Switzerland
•  Turkey
•  Ukraine
•  United Kingdom
•  United States (639)
•  Venezuela
•  Zimbabwe

References

1. "The 20th Maccabiah Games: A brief History (Part 1)," The Canadian Jewish News.
2. Helen Jefferson Lenskyj (2012). Gender Politics and the Olympic Industry. Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 9781137291158.
3. Mitchell G. Bard and Moshe Schwartz (2005). 1001 Facts Everyone Should Know about Israel p. 84.
4. "History of the Maccabiah Games". Maccabi Australia. Archived from the original on 2016-10-20. Retrieved 2017-07-14.
5. "At Maccabiah Games, 300 Jewish American athletes become bar and bat mitzvah". The Forward. July 14, 2022.
6. "The Canadian Jewish news, July 29, 1993, page 4 | SFU Digitized Newspapers".
7. "July 29, 1993, page 4". The Canadian Jewish News.
8. "Lev Kirshner - Men's Soccer Coach". SDSU Athletics.
9. "Thunder coach Amos Magee to head US Maccabi soccer team". OurSports Central. March 9, 2007.
10. "US Maccabiah Rugby » Shawn Lipman".
11. Golland, Mike (August 13, 1993). "Sport". The Australian Jewish News.
12. "31 March 1993". Jewish Post.
13. "Maccabiah Instills Jewish Pride in Athletes from Around the World". Jewish Telegraphic Agency. July 8, 1993. Retrieved 5 September 2018.
14. ""Me encantaría estar en Israel 2017"". Diario Stampa (in Spanish). 15 July 2016. Retrieved 31 July 2018.
15. Doggers, Peter. "Yuri Averbakh, The Oldest Living Grandmaster, Turns 100". Chess.com.

External links

• Summaries of each of the Games