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Maccabiah
And The Internet

MARK MIETKIEWICZ

Special to the Jewish News

S

ixty-nine years ago, a few
hundred Jewish athletes met
to compete in a unique
sporting event in Palestine,
the Maccabiah. Since then the
Maccabiah has grown to become the
premier sporting event for Jewish ath-
letes — and has even become a show-
case for future Olympic superstars.
In addition to athletic excellence,
the Maccabiah has also been associat-
ed with politics, controversy and
tragedy. As Israel prepares to host next
week's 16th Maccabiah, we look at the
games past and present on the Web.
The best place to start is at the offi-
cial Maccabiah Web site, which paints
a colorful picture of the games.
www.maccabiah.org
The first Maccabiah games took
place in Tel Aviv in 1932. The Games
got off to a rousing start as Mayor
Meir Dizengoff made an entrance into
the stadium riding a white stallion.
Those first games welcomed 390 from
18 countries.
Over the years, the games have
grown and have attracted some very tal-
ented, though still unknown, competi-
tors. In 1965, an American swimmer
named Mark Spitz won two gold medals
in the pool. "The excitement of meeting
Jewish athletes from around the world
and sharing with them the universal
spirit of sports competition was a
matchless experience," he said.
vvww.maccabiusa.com/quotes.html
By 1997, the Maccabiah hosted
5,500 athletes from 50 countries. But
the 15th Maccabiah will always be
remembered for the tragic accident
that caused loss of life and numerous
injuries. Four members of the
Australian delegation were killed and
some 70 other people were injured
when a footbridge collapsed as they
walked over it to attend the opening
ceremony.
www.jpost.com/Editions/2001/02/14
/News/News.21380.html
Despite Australia's attendance, this
year's Maccabiah may see far fewer
than the 5,000 athletes originally
expected to attend. Because of unrest
in Israel, this year's games were in

doubt and were only con-
firmed after the ,
United States
delegation decided
to attend. According
to London's Jewish
Chronicle, the
American
"about-face" and
enormous pressure by the
Israeli government convinced
Britain and other countries to
send delegations.
www.thejc.com/Print.asp?Record=11
351
Athletes attending this year's
Maccabiah will compete in over 30
games and sports including triathlon,
chess, wrestling, bridge and water polo.
There are over 50 countries invited and
you can find links to many of the
national Maccabi sites including pages
for teams from Canada, Argentina,
Brazil, Hungary and the U.S. You can
find more background at the Maccabi
World Union Web site.
wvvw.macc.abiworld.org/
While looking for photographs
from previous Maccabiahs, I came
across a wonderful Web site I hadn't
seen before. The State of Israel's
National Photo Collection has placed
thousands of historic photos online.
Just go to the Collection.
www.magov.il/pictures/defaulte.htm
Type in a keyword like "Maccabiah"
and you'll get some lovely results. (Try
this site for just about any topic that
interests you.)
Although the Maccabiah may not
have the international profile of other
sporting events, some athletes appreci-
ate it for the value its founders tried to
instill. U.S. swimmer Lenny
Krayzelburg won three gold medals in
backstroke at the Sydney Olympics.
Last December, he said that he planned
to skip this month's World Swimming
Championships in Japan just so that he
could compete at the Maccabiah.
www.zipple.com/sports/20001228_m
accabiah.shtnil
In addition, he said that he plans to
work with Jewish and immigrant chil-
dren. "I may be wrong, but there
might be a perception that Jewish kids
are not athletic. Maybe I can change
that trend." ❑

.