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The 13th Maccabiah Games in Israel.
The Year In Sports
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FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 1989
mow' c9 .tior
greatest
0 Natural
/ Resource
v7
,
he year 5749 saw im-
pressive sporting suc-
cesses in soccer and
tennis, and Israel came closer
than ever before to winning
its first ever Olympic medal.
At the same time the year
- was notable for the Barmitz-
vah Maccabiah, which
brought thousands of Jews to
Israel from around the world,
and for the manner in which
athletics were used to ad-
vance diplomatic relations
between Israel and the Soviet
Union.
During the Seoul Olympic
Games, ace sailors Yoav Sela
and Eldad Amir were
thwarted in their bid to
become the first Israelis to
win a medal, not by the op-
position but by Yom Kippur.
Unable to sail on the holiest
of Jewish days, they finished
fourth and almost certainly
forfeited the opportunity of
winning at least a bronze
medal. Fellow Israeli sailors
Dan and Ran Tortan
disobeyed orders and sailed
on Yom Kippur and were
suspended from the Israeli
team for their pains.
Boxer Ya'akov Shmuel also
came close to winning a
medal in South Korea. He
fought bravely, reaching the
quarter final before he was
finally defeated.
In fact, Israel won more
medals at Seoul, per head of
its population, than any other
country in the world. This im-
pressive medals haul was not
during the main Olympics,
but during the Paraolympics,
held in South Korea im-
mediately after the Olympic
Games. Israel's squad of 62
disabled sportsmen proudly
brought home 45 medals,
placing them 11th in the
medals table.
The Jewish Olympics,
otherwise known as the Mac-
cabiah Games, was also an ex-
citing highpoint in the spor- -
ting calendar, with more than
5,000 sportsmen and women
from 41 countries competing
in the biggest ever games.
The Barmitzvah Maccabiah
also marked the first time
since World War II than an
Eastern European team was
allowed to participate. Seven-
ty sportsmen from the Lithu-
anian Maccabi club repre-
sented the Soviet Union.
Soviet diplomacy was also
evident in basketball. At
Soviet insistence European
Cup basketball ties between
perennial Israeli champions
Maccabi Tel Aviv and their
Soviet counterparts have
traditionally taken place on
neutral territory in Belgium.
However, this year the Soviets
agreed to play in Israel, while
the return leg against Soviet
champions CSKA Moscow
took place in the Russian
capital.
It was a proud evening as
Israeli flags were waved in
the Russian stadium and
Maccabi Thl Aviv trounced
CSKA Moscow. The event was
only marred by the refusal of
the Russians to grand tourist
visas to hundreds of Maccabi
fans who wanted to make the
trip from Israel. -
exhilarating
Playing
basketball, Maccabi Tel Aviv
went on to reach their third
consecutive European basket-
ball final. Though they went
into the game against the
Yugoslav champions,
Yugoplastica Split, as strong-
ly fancied favorites, there was
disappointment as Maccabi
Tel Aviv were defeated by six
pints. Inevitably Maccabilll