1969 Maccabiah Games

At the 8th Maccabiah Games in 1969, 1,450 athletes from 27 countries competed in 22 sports.

8th Maccabiah
Host cityTel Aviv, Israel
Nations participating27
Debuting countries Republic of the Congo
Athletes participating1450
Officially opened byDeborah Turner
Main venueRamat Gan Stadium
Shaul Ladany (center), winner of 10-km walk, on podium during 8th Maccabiah Games at Ramat Gan Stadium (1969)

Germany and Greece sent teams for the first time since the 1935 Games.

A new swimming pool was dedicated at Yad Eliyahu.

History
Israeli postal stamp

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]

Notable medalists

American swimmer Mark Spitz won 6 gold medals.

Tal Brody, having moved from the U.S. to Israel, captained the Israeli basketball team to a gold medal over the United States, which had on its team Ronald Green, Steve Kaplan, Andrew Hill, Eric Minkin, and Neal Walk.[5]

Israeli Olympian Shaul Ladany won gold medals in the 3-km walk (13.35.4), the 10-km walk, and the 50-km walk.[6][7]

Esther Roth of Israel won the long jump with a 19-foot, 3/4 inch (5.81 meter) jump.

David Berger, an American, won a gold medal in the middleweight weight-lifting contest. He later represented Israel in the 1972 Summer Olympics, but was one of the 11 Israeli sportsmen killed by Arab terrorists in the Munich Massacre.

In tennis, Julie Heldman, who was ranked # 2 in the US, won the Women's Singles, the Women's Doubles with Marilyn Aschner, and the Mixed Doubles with Ed Rubinoff. Bruce Fleisher of the US won gold medals in both individual and team golf.

Participating communities

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

References
  1. A brief history of the Maccabiah Games
  2. Helen Jefferson Lenskyj (2012). Gender Politics and the Olympic Industry. Palgrave Macmillan.
  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.
  5. "U.S. Cage Team For Maccabiah". Jewish Post. April 25, 1969.
  6. Shaul P. Ladany (2008). King of the Road: The Autobiography of an Israeli Scientist and a World Record-Holding Race Walker. Gefen Publishing. Retrieved February 28, 2013.
  7. Robert Slater (2000). Great Jews in Sports. J. David Publishers. Retrieved February 28, 2013.
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