1985 Maccabiah Games

The 12th Maccabiah Games brought over 4,000 athletes to Israel from 38 nations to compete in 28 sports.

12th Maccabiah

Host city	Tel Aviv, Israel
Nations	38[1]
Debuting countries	Gibraltar  Guam  Panama  Zaire
Athletes	3,700
Main venue	Ramat Gan Stadium
← 11th Maccabiah 13th Maccabiah →

History

The Maccabiah Games were first held in 1932.^[2] In 1961, they were declared a "Regional Sports Event" by, and under the auspices and supervision of, the International Olympic Committee.^[3][4][5] Among other Olympic and world champions, swimmer Mark Spitz won 10 Maccabiah gold medals before earning his first of nine Olympic gold medals.^[6]

Opening ceremonies

Twenty years after his first appearance in the Maccabiah, Olympic champion Mark Spitz returned to Israel to carry the Opening Ceremony’s Torch into Ramat Gan Stadium.^[7] He was accompanied by Shirli Shapiro, Anok Spitzer, and Shlomit Romano, children of three of the Israelis slain in the Munich Massacre at the 1972 Munich Olympics.

Notable competitors

Seven men's and 14 women's records were broken in swimming, with the U.S. team winning all but three of the gold medals in this category. Twelve new men's records and 7 new women's records were broken in track and field. The U.S. won 109 gold medals, 90 silver medals, and 74 bronze medals, slightly fewer than half of the medals won by all other countries combined.

Canadian Mark Berger, who had won a silver medal at the Olympics the year prior, won a gold medal in judo.^[8] Brazilian Márcio Stambowsky won a bronze medal in judo.^[9][10][11]

James Espir of the United Kingdom won a gold medal in the 1,500 m run.^[12] American Ken Flax won the gold medal in the hammer throw.^[13][14] Canadian Gordon Orlikow, who later was a bronze medalist in the decathlon at the Pan American Games, won the gold medal in the men's decathlon with 7,141 points (finishing in first place in the 110 m hurdles and 1,500 m run, and in second place in the 400 m run, the long jump, discus, javelin, and shot put), and broke the Maccabiah Games record in the 100-meter hurdles at 14.73 seconds, earning a second gold medal.^{[15][16][17][18][19]}

American Donna Orender played for, was the oldest player on, and was captain of the Team USA women's basketball team.^[20][21][22]

Robbie Weingard played basketball for Team USA, helping it win a gold medal.^[23] Israeli Ari Rosenberg won a silver medal in basketball with Team Israel.

American Ronni Reis won the gold medal, and American Jamie Golder won the silver medal, in the women's singles tennis event.^[24] Shawn Lipman represented South Africa in rugby union, winning a gold medal.^[25]

American soccer future Hall of Famer Jeff Agoos and Seth Roland competed in soccer for the United States, which came in 6th.^{[26][27][28][29][30]} Nir Levine competed for Israel, which won the gold medal.

A Junior Maccabiah was held for the first time.^[1]

Participating communities

Thirty-eight nations sent delegations.^[1] The number in parentheses indicates the number of participants that community contributed.

•  Argentina
•  Australia
•  Austria
•  Belgium
•  Bermuda
•  Brazil
•  Canada
•  Chile
•  Colombia
•  Denmark
•  Ecuador
•  Finland
•  France
•  West Germany
•  Gibraltar
•  Guam
•  India
•  Israel
•  Italy
•  Japan
•  Mexico
•  Netherlands
•  Norway
•  Panama
•  Peru
•  Puerto Rico
•  South Africa
•  Sweden
•   Switzerland
•  Turkey
•  United Kingdom
•  United States
•  Uruguay
•  Venezuela
•  Virgin Islands
•  Yugoslavia
•  Zaire

References

1. "12th Maccabiah 1985". Maccabi Canada.
2. "The 20th Maccabiah Games: A brief History (Part 1)," The Canadian Jewish News.
3. Helen Jefferson Lenskyj (2012). Gender Politics and the Olympic Industry. Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 9781137291158.
4. Mitchell G. Bard and Moshe Schwartz (2005). 1001 Facts Everyone Should Know about Israel p. 84.
5. "History of the Maccabiah Games". Maccabi Australia. Archived from the original on 2018-09-13.
6. "At Maccabiah Games, 300 Jewish American athletes become bar and bat mitzvah". The Forward. July 14, 2022.
7. "Jewish Virtual Library ', Maccabiah Games'". Jewishvirtuallibrary.org. Retrieved January 30, 2011.
8. "1985 Team Canada Delegation".
9. Gracie, Reila (2015). Carlos Gracie the Creator of a Fighting Dynasty (in Portuguese). RG Art Publishing LLC. p. 483. ISBN 978-0578150109. O vencedor disputaria a final com Márcio Stambowsky, faixa preta de Rolls, que se encontrava em ótima forma. Como já o havia vencido na academia, Rickson esperava que Márcio lhe desse a vitória, mas este deixou a decisão por conta de seu professor: 'O que Rolls decidir eu faço.'
10. Borges, Andre. "Marcio Stambowsky Main Achievements". BJJ Heroes. Retrieved February 9, 2017. AABB Champion, Rio de Janeiro Champion, Maccabiah Bronze
11. Valuzzo, Rocco (August 13, 2015). "Stambowsky Shares Passion for Jiu Jitsu". The Weston Forum. Weston, Connecticut. Archived from the original on August 6, 2017. Retrieved June 1, 2017. Stambowsky began competing in jiu-jitsu tournaments in his native country in 1977 and also at the Maccabiah Games in Israel in 1985 before retiring from competition in 1993. Two years later he coached at the Pan American Games in Argentina.
12. "Full text of "The Jerusalem Post Magazine, 1985, Israel, English"".
13. "The Sidelines : Security Tight at Maccabiah Games". Los Angeles Times. July 3, 1989.
14. "Flax sets Maccabiah record". UPI.
15. "U.S., Israel Vie for Maccabiah Medals". Jewish Telegraphic Agency. July 25, 1985.
16. "Americans Increase Their Medal Tally in Maccabiah Games," The Register, Vol. 107, No. 331, p. 57, July 24, 1985.
17. Volume 134, Northern California Jewish Bulletin, p. 46, July 1985.
18. Paul Lungen & David Pierson (August 15, 1985). "Canada Records Finest Ever Maccabiah Showing". The Canadian Jewish News. p. 6.
19. "Track and Field Results Maccabiah James At Tel Aviv, July 13". UPI. July 13, 1981.
20. Legends Donna Orender Archived 2017-10-19 at the Wayback Machine "Donna Orender" | Maccabi USA
21. ""Donna Orender" | Maccabi USA". Archived from the original on 2017-10-19. Retrieved 2018-04-28.
22. Ron Kaplan (2015). The Jewish Olympics: The History of the Maccabiah Games. Skyhorse Publishing. p. 184. ISBN 978-1-63220-855-2.
23. "Company Leadership". HYP Online. HYP. 2014. Retrieved March 6, 2014.
24. "Dramatic Tennis Singles Match". Jewish Telegraphic Agency. July 26, 1985.
25. "US Maccabiah Rugby » Shawn Lipman".
26. "Jeff Agoos". Jewish Virtual Library. Retrieved April 11, 2009.
27. "Jeff Agoos: 1996 was the Year of the Goose". socceramerica.com.
28. "GROWING UP IN SOUTH AFRICA, WHERE RUGBY IS AS REVERED AS AMERICAN FOOTBALL IS IN THE USA". docplayer.net.
29. "FDU's Seth Roland Named US Maccabiah Soccer Team Head Coach". northeastconference.org.
30. "FDU Knights". Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2022-09-02.

External links

• Summaries of each of the Games