Summer Olympics

ON THE COVER

Olympic Leap from page B1

Paying Tribute

Israeli athletes murdered at the 1972 Munich Olympics
are remembered en route to Beijing.

Greer Fay Cashman

The Jerusalem Post

W

ith all the excitement
and anticipation that is
part and parcel of being
a member of Israel's Olympic team,
the joy is always tinged with sorrow,
as today's athletes paid tribute last
week to the memory of the 11 Israeli
athletes murdered by Black September
terrorists at the Munich Olympics in
1972.
The Israel Olympic Committee
maintains contact with the families
of the victims and as in the past
the Israel Olympic team visited the
victims memorial in Tel Aviv before
continuing on to Beit Hanassi in
Jerusalem to receive the blessing

of the president in advance of the
upcoming Olympics.
Ironically, only an hour or so before
they arrived, there was a terrorist
attack in Jerusalem approximately a
kilometer away from Beit Hanassi.
President Shimon Peres and
Mahmoud Abbas, president of the
Palestinian Authority, were at the tail
end of their luncheon meeting when
they heard the news. Both instantly
condemned the attack.
Later at the farewell reception for
the Israeli team, Peres, who is also
going to China for the opening of the
games, recalled the horror of Munich.
"None of us will forget what hap-
pened there Peres told relatives of the
victims.
Peres, who has been asked to

"None of us will forget what happened
there," Israeli President Shimon Peres
told relatives of the victims.

"VAMP Varrina
Otrtf
Prn MAPS21~
197'2

B2

July 31 • 2008

iN

boycott the games on the grounds
of China's deplorable human rights
record and its treatment of the
Tibetans, said that he was going to
China not because of China's flaws but
because of China's merits.
The Beijing Olympics he noted
would be the largest and most spec-
tacular Olympic Games to date, with
many world leaders attending, and
it was an honor to have the head of
state of a small country such as Israel
invited.
Contrary to usual practice, this
year's Olympics, observed Peres, have
a political overtone, which was one of
the reasons that China was so keen for
Israel to attend.
Among the Israelis invited by the
Chinese is former Israel ambassador
to China Ora Namir who made such
an enduring impression during her
period of tenure that the Chinese are
prepared to do almost anything to get
her back.
Both Peres and Israel Olympic
Committee President Zvi Varshaviak
were confident that the Israel Olympic
team going to Beijing would bring
honor to Israel and even a medal or
two. With 42 athletes, it is the largest
Israel Olympic team ever.
This will be the 14th time that Israel
will compete in the Olympics said
Varshaviak, adding that up till now
Israel had been represented by a total
of 281 athletes.
Team leader Efraim Zinger said that
for the first time half the team would
be female. He also noted that 60 per-
cent of the athletes were competing in
the Olympics for the first time, though
shooter Guy Starik is competing for
the fourth time.
Eleven team members are from the
Former Soviet Union and one is from
Ethiopia. There are also two Olympic
medalists: judo champion Arik Zeevi,
who won a bronze medal in Athens in
2004, and kayak champion Michael
Kolganov, who won a bronze medal at
the Sydney Olympics in 2000.
Kolganov will carry the Israeli flag
at the opening ceremony in Beijing. ❑

plaint of Israel's sporting community.
For those who grew up in the Soviet
system, where cultivating sports and
athletes was a top national priority, the
contrast in Israel can be jarring.
Ela Samotalov, the coach for the team
event, came in 1991 from Minsk, where she
helped coach the Belarus national team.
She says she is still getting accustomed to
Israel's more spartan sports culture.
"There is no status to being a coach
here in Israel: she complains.
The Soviet-style training, with its
strict discipline and demands, can
seem off-putting to native-born Israelis,
Samotalov says. This is part of what
unites the Russian-born gymnasts — a
shared understanding of the dedication
needed to excel that comes from growing
up in families versed in a more intense
approach to sports.
"But the sabras are learning well; it
will just take time Samotalov says of the
Israelis. "Sports is not a miracle. It's hard
work."
Samotalov is encouraged by the home-
grown talent of one of her longtime
charges, Rivkin has improved consistently
at competitions this year.
"My goal is to do the best I can:' Rivkin
says of Beijing. "It's so special, going out
there in front of that huge audience
Not far away, Risenzon laughs as she
recalls her introduction to the sport when
she was a little girl living near Kiev.
"I was considered sickly, always getting
the flu:' she recalls."So my parents were
told that to strengthen my body I should
do sports, and the closest gym to our
house was for rhythmic gymnastics!'
When she was 4, Risenzon's Olympic
career was nearly derailed by coaches
who deemed her too pudgy to excel in
the sport. Her baby fat long gone, she fin-
ished seventh last September in the World
Championships.
Risenzon talks about the deep con-
centration she tries to maintain during
her routines — tuning out the clapping
crowds, the cameras and the competition.
Relief and satisfaction come only after a
successful routine is completed.
"Then I think about everything; she
says. "In the midst of it all I'm focused on
the next move.
"But I love to perform:' Risenzon says,
her deep brown eyes shining as she
describes her Olympic routines, which
include a playful number set to Indian
music and another with a samba tune.
Despite her immigrant origins, she has
no identity dilemmas, she says. "I've felt
deeply connected here Risenzon says,
"and when I see the Israeli flag flying I get
goose bumps."

❑