9th Maccabiah
Host cityTel Aviv, Israel
Nations27[1]
Debuting countries Costa Rica
 Spain
Athletes1,800[2]
Events20 branches of sport[2]
OpeningJuly 9, 1973[3]
ClosingJuly 19, 1973[3]
Opened byTal Brody; Israeli President Ephraim Katzir
Main venueRamat Gan Stadium

The 9th Maccabiah Games, which were held from July 9 to 19, 1973, were opened in Ramat Gan Stadium, Israel.[3] Spain and Costa Rica made their debuts in the Games. A total of 1,800 athletes competed on behalf of 27 countries in 20 branches of sport, in 30 venues across Israel.[2] The Games took place ten months after the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, where 11 Israeli athletes and coaches were slain during the Munich Massacre. The United States won 76 gold medals (and 162 total medals), and Israel was next with 60 gold medals (and 166 total medals).

History

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]

Opening ceremonies

60,000 spectators packed Ramat Gan Stadium for the Opening Ceremonies on July 9, 1973, as Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir, Israeli President Ephraim Katzir, and Israeli Minister Minister of Foreign Affairs Abba Eban paid homage to the slain athletes.[3] The Maccabiah torch had been carried 30 miles to the stadium by a relay of runners from Modi'in in Israel, which is believed to be the burial place of the Maccabees, Jewish warriors of the 2nd century BC in whose memory the Games are named.[1] Those in the stadium rose for a memorial prayer, inspired by the Biblical text of King David's lament for Jonathan and Saul.[1] The prayer said: “They were swifter than eagles and stronger than lions when coming to represent Israel before the nations and peoples of the world."[1] 11 candle‐shaped torches at the top of the stands were kindled one by one, as the name of each victim was mentioned, and the large crowd was hushed as each torch was lit.[1]

The honor of lighting the torch over the stadium was given to basketball player Tal Brody, who had played for Team USA as an American in the 1965 Maccabiah Games, and subsequently moved to Israel, where he became captain of the basketball team.[3] Israeli jumper and basketball player Tamara Metal was chosen as torch bearer, but Metal recited the Vow of the Maccabiah Games instead because she was pregnant.[9]

Notable competitors

In swimming, Olympian Anita Zarnowiecki from Sweden, 19 years of age, won seven gold medals (including the 100 m backstroke, the 400 m freestyle, and the 200 m individual medley) and one silver medal (in the 800 m freestyle), surpassing American Olympian Mark Spitz's record of five gold medals in the 1969 Maccabiah Games.[10][11][12][13] American future Olympic medalist Wendy Weinberg won four gold medals, including in the women's 200 m butterfly, the women's 400 m medley, and the women's 800 m freestyle.[10][11][14][15][16] Swedish Olympian Bernt Zarnowiecki, Anita's twin brother, won three gold medals in swimming, including in the men's 400 m freestyle and the 1,500 m freestyle.[11][14] American future Pan American Games champion Barbara Weinstein won a gold medal in three metre diving.[17] Mexican Olympian Roberto Strauss won three bronze medals in freestyle.[18][19]

In track and field, Israeli Olympian and world record holder Shaul Ladany, who had competed at the 1972 Summer Olympics (the Olympics of the Munich massacre), won the 20-km and 50-km walks.[20][21] Israeli Asian Games champion and Olympian Esther Roth, who withdrew from the 1972 Olympics after the Munich Massacre, won the 100 m race in 11.75, as well as the 200 m and the 100 m hurdles.[22] Maya Kalle-Bentzur of Israel, a future Olympian, was also a medalist at the Games.[23]

In basketball, 18-year-old Ernie Grunfeld, who three years later won an Olympic gold medal, was the only high school student on the American team's starting five, and led the team in scoring with a 20-point average as the US was coached by Hall of Famer Harry Litwack and took the silver medal.[24][25][26] Grunfeld later played in the NBA, and became General Manager of the New York Knicks.

In tennis, South African Ilana Kloss—a future world #1 women's doubles player—won gold medals in women's singles (defeating American Janet Haas in the finals), women’s doubles (with Helen Weiner defeating silver medalists Vicki Berner and Pam Gullish of Canada in the finals), and mixed doubles.[22][10][27][28][29] David Schneider won three gold medals, in the men's singles, doubles with Errol Kilov, and mixed doubles with Ilana Kloss.[30]

In judo, American Olympian Irwin Cohen won the light-heavyweight gold medal, defeating Canadian Olympian Terry Farnsworth who won the silver medal.[31] Irwin's brother, American future Olympian Steve Cohen, won a gold medal in judo at 176 pounds.[32][33] American Bernard Lepkofker won a gold medal in the heavyweight competition.[31] Israeli future Olympian Yona Melnik won a gold medal at 154 pounds.[34] Canadian future Olympian Howard Stupp won a silver medal.[35]

In soccer, Vicky Peretz played for Israel, which won the gold medal over Mexico. Yoram Kessel played for Israel in cricket.[36] Canada's Olympian Peter Bakonyi competed in fencing.[37]

The organizers of the Games invited two non‐Jewish Dutch athletes, who in sympathy with the Israelis had withdrawn from the Munich Olympics after the murders.[3] Wilma van Gool, who had qualified for the semifinals in the sprints at Munich, raced as a pacer—not as a competitor, and Bert Kops, a heavyweight wrestler, appeared in an exhibition match.[3]

National delegations

A total of 27 nations sent delegations of athletes to the Games.[1] The United States delegation consisted of 263 athletes, and was the second-largest after Israel.[3][2] South African track and field, wrestling, and weight‐lifting teams did not participate, because international federations in those sports had imposed bans on the athletes, but the South African delegation of 150 athletes was the third-largest delegation.[3] Canada had 56 athletes.[38] Rhodesia had a delegation of 21 athletes.[1] A total of 27 former Soviet Jews who had immigrated to Israel competed, with their strengths being in wrestling, weight lifting, boxing, fencing, and tennis, and pole vault.[3]

The United States won 76 gold medals (and 162 total medals), and Israel was next with 60 gold medals (and 166 total medals).[39] They were followed by South Africa, Great Britain, and France.[40]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Times, Moshe Brilliant; Special to The New York (July 10, 1973). "50,000 Spectators Searched as Security Surrounds Opening of Maccabiah Games". The New York Times.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Sports News Briefs". The New York Times. July 7, 1973.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 "Maccabiah Games: A Somber Occasion". The New York Times. July 8, 1973.
  4. ↑ "The 20th Maccabiah Games: A brief History (Part 1)," The Canadian Jewish News.
  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. ↑ ""Matal, Tamar"". Archived from the original on 2017-12-15. Retrieved 2016-11-14.
  10. 1 2 3 "Spitz'sFeat Is Bettered At Tel Aviv". The New York Times. July 16, 1973.
  11. 1 2 3 "Sweden's Gold Medal Twins Swim to 2 More at Maccabiah". The New York Times. July 14, 1973.
  12. ↑ Anita Zarnowiecki Adds Seventh Win. Observer-Reporter (July 16, 1973).
  13. ↑ "Historik – Svenska Makkabiförbundet" (in Swedish). Retrieved 2021-03-10.
  14. 1 2 "U.S. Suspends Fighting Doctor". The New York Times. July 13, 1973.
  15. ↑ "Wendy Weinberg Weil". Swim Across America.
  16. ↑ "Frank R. Comfort".
  17. ↑ "U.S. SQUAD TAKES GOLD‐MEDAL RACE Captures 9 of 10 Wrestling Finals for Total of 76 as Maccabiah Games End". The New York Times. July 18, 1973.
  18. ↑ Discover Swimming. Lulu.com. 27 September 2019. ISBN 9780359871353.
  19. ↑ "Cdinforma, Número 2606, 8 De Tamuz De 5773, México". idoc.pub. June 16, 2013.
  20. ↑ "Ladany, Shaul". Jews in Sports. Archived from the original on March 3, 2016. Retrieved February 24, 2013.
  21. ↑ Robert Slater (2000). Great Jews in Sports. J. David Publishers. ISBN 9780824604332. Retrieved February 28, 2013.
  22. 1 2 "Maccabiah Protest Bars 2 Guest Athletes". The New York Times. July 17, 1973.
  23. ↑ "Dr. Maya Kalle-Ben Tzur - אתנה". athenawomen.org.il. Archived from the original on 2017-12-15. Retrieved 2022-05-13.
  24. ↑ Blaustein, Esther (July 5, 1981). "Sports; COACH SET FOR ISRAELI GAMES" – via NYTimes.com.
  25. ↑ Times, Moshe Brilliant;Special to The New York (July 12, 1973). "U.S. DOCTOR LANDS PUNCH IN PROTES1". The New York Times.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  26. ↑ "Ernie Grunfeld". Jewish Sports Hall of Fame. Archived from the original on August 20, 2006. Retrieved February 20, 2014.
  27. ↑ "At the Maccabiah Games: U.S. Wins the Most Medals with 246; Israel Comes in Second with 217". 26 July 1985.
  28. ↑ "Israel Basketball Team Loses out to Underdog U.S. Squad at 10th Maccabiah". 22 July 1977.
  29. ↑ "Seeking Jewish Tennis Players to Represent the United States". USTA Florida. 22 September 2008. Retrieved 11 February 2011.
  30. ↑ Palm Beach Post, "U.S. Athletes Hold Slim Lead Over Israel", 17 July 1973, p. 42
  31. 1 2 "U. S., ISRAEL WIN 12 MEDALS EACH". The New York Times. July 11, 1973.
  32. ↑ "Black Belt". Active Interest Media, Inc. December 26, 1973 – via Google Books.
  33. ↑ "Black Belt". Active Interest Media, Inc. October 26, 1974 – via Google Books.
  34. ↑ [🖉"Black Belt". Active Interest Media, Inc. December 26, 1973 – via Google Books.
  35. ↑ "1973 Team Canada Delegation". Maccabi Canada. Retrieved 30 September 2022.
  36. ↑ Terence Smith (July 15, 1973). "It's Cricket as Well as Kosher". The New York Times.
  37. ↑ Leible Hershfield (1980). The Jewish Athlete; A Nostalgic View, p. 196.
  38. ↑ "9th Maccabiah 1973". Maccabi Canada.
  39. ↑ Moshe Brilliant (July 20, 1973). "Some U.S. Maccabiah Athletes Thinking of Settling in Israel". The New York Times.
  40. ↑ Murray, Jack (December 26, 1973). "U.S. Dominates Judo At Maccabiah Games". Black Belt. Active Interest Media, Inc. p. 53 – via Google Books.
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