SPORTS

GRAND SLAM U.S.A.

"IT NEVER RAINS IN OUR PARK!"
PLAY BASEBALL WITH A PRO -
INDOORS!

Private and small group baseball classes start
October 20th at our indoor training facility. Learn
batting or pitching techniques from our Baseball
Academy Director Stu Rose. Stu was the 1986
Observer and Eccentric
Coach of the Year,
1989-1990 MCC Eastern
Division League Champs of
Henry Ford Community Col-
lege, 31/2 years Head
Coach at Henry Ford Com-
munity College.

A

T

E

C

Groups limited to 6 students.

42930 W. 10 Mile
Between Novi
and Meadowbrook

GRAND
SLAM
U.S.A. (313) 348.8338

Kosher
Caribbean Cruise

On the Luxurious REGENT STAR

Rita's
Special Offer
ACRYLIC NAILS
$ 50.00

Expires October 31, 1990

Call Rita for your Appt.

January 6-13, 1991

• Four Glatt Kosher Meals Daily
• Choice of Cabins
• Visiting: Jamaica, Costa Rica and the
Panama Canal (partial transit)
• FREE Round-trip air to Montego Bay from Detroit
• Orthodox Rabbinical Supervision

LIMITED CAPACITY

World Class Travel of Michigan, Inc,

, ` = 1 _ 1),NE4;;N
TRAVEL AGENCY

353-5811

21720 Eleven Mile Rd. • Harvard Row Mall • Southfield, MI

68

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 19, 1990

Orchard Mall
Orchard Rd. and Maple
932-1222

WE SHIP
FURNITURE

ruittgoL.o
g u re

6453 FARMINGTON ROAD
W. BLOOMFIELD

855-5822

MAPLE (at CRANBROOK)
BIRMINGHAM

433-3070

Israel's Rogel Nahum.

Israeli Triple Jumper
Has Olympic Goals

DANNY BEN-TAL

Special to the Jewish News

I

srael has yet to produce
an athlete good enough to
bring home an Olympic
medal. The only Israeli track
and field athlete to reach an
Olympic final was 100 meter
hurdler Esther Roth back in
1976. Yet the tremendous pro-
mise shown by triple-jumper
Rogel Nahum, 23, bodes well
for that longed for first medal.
At last summer's World
Maccabiah Games, Nahum
leaped 16.77 meters, a
distance which would have
placed him seventh in the
1988 Olympic final in Seoul,
and a month later he finish-
ed eighth in a world-class
field at the World Student
Games held in Duisberg,
Germany.
Tall and angular, Nahum
has held Israel's national
long-, triple- and high jump
records almost continuously
over the past three years. His
smiling face is now a regular
feature on the European cir-
cuit, where he competes with
top Soviet and Eastern Euro-
pean jumpers.
"Although everyone knows
that I'm Israeli, I've never
suffered from discrimination.
There's quite a camaraderie
among top international
athletes and I've become
friendly with many of my
fellow competitors," he says.
"Athletics has become my
whole life. I train twice a day,
every day. You cannot
possibly succeed in modern
athletics with a half-hearted
approach. Even my circle of
friends at home has changed
to one of mainly fellow-
athletes."

Self-confident, his outgoing
demeanor has garnered him
many friends over the years
and his popularity with jour-
nalists is rare among top
athletes.
Due to start studies -soon at
Tel Aviv University, Nahum
says, "I'll be taking courses
bit by bit, as I can't allow ex-
ams to disrupt my training
schedule. My eventual aim is
to become a professional
athletics coach."
Sport in Israel suffers great-
ly from the compulsory three-
year military service for men,
and two years for women,

"Although
everyone knows
that I'm Israeli, I've
never suffered from
discrimination.
There's quite a
camaraderie
among athletes."

from the age of 18. The IDF,
however, on recognizing
Nahum's talents, granted him
the special status of
"Outstanding Sportsman,"
which allowed him time off
for training and competition.
Taking up athletics at the
age of 17, Nahum spent three
years as goalkeeper for the
Hapoel Givatayim youth soc-
cer team, and never gave
other sports serious con-
sideration. "Then one day I
was sent along by my high
school sports teacher to David
Kushnir, who had long-
jumped at the 1956 and 1960
Olympics." The jumper-
Continued on Page 70