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old, silver and bronze medals were 
won by the Michigan Maccabiah 
Men at last month’s 21st Maccabiah 
in Jerusalem, where 10,000 athletes from 60 
countries competed in 47 different sports.
The Masters Basketball Team, which 
took the bronze against Brazil, included 
Michael Friedman, who competed in his 
12th Maccabiah for Team USA 
at the world’s largest Jewish 
athletic competition in the tra-
dition and values of Maccabi, 
emphasizing the importance of 
bringing Jewish people together 
to celebrate their shared culture, 
strength and pride through 
sport.
Considered one of the best Jewish 
Masters guards in the country and one of 
the most decorated 50+-year-old basket-
ball players who have competed on the 
international stage, the Birmingham native 
made his first U.S. squad in 2000. He said 
he believes that much of his success is due 
to his athleticism, which matured in his 20s 
and 30s.
Two other Michigan-connected ath-
letes are Alan Gerdov and Adam Wooten, 
University of Michigan varsity gymnas-
tics team members, who took six medals 
between them.
Wooten, who is returning to complete in 
his senior year at Michigan, won the gold 
medal in vault and horizontal bar, and the 
silver for still rings and team. Gerdov, who 
graduated with his MSE (electrical engi-

neering) in the spring and a BSE in electri-
cal engineering in 2021, was awarded the 
silver medal for team and bronze for vault.

Originally, “Michigan was one of the few 
schools I wasn’t interested in because my 
sister graduated from there and I wanted to 
pave my own path,” Gerdov said. However, 
“after the whole recruiting process, I final-
ly made the decision to attend Michigan 
without an offer because of the combination 
of attending one of the best engineering 
programs in the country combined with the 
opportunity to do gymnastics on such a his-
torically great team was a no-brainer.”
Gerdov was cut from the team after one 
semester because of residual back issues 
from a previous stress factor and was asked 
to stay involved as an undergraduate assis-
tant coach.
During the summer going into junior 
year, Gerdov said, “I would practice by 
myself after my internship to stay in shape. 
I felt healthier and was looking good, so I 
talked to the coaches on what they thought 
about me coming back. We all decided to 
give it another go, and I made the team and 
competed.”

Gerdov, of Lincolnshire, Ill., ultimately 
was voted one of Michigan’s three team cap-
tains and a Big Ten Distinguished Scholar 
last season. He and Wooten helped lead 
the Wolverines to back-to-back Big Ten 
Champions, finishing third in the NCAA. 
“The Big-Ten is the best conference for 
gymnastics,” Wooten said.
Wooten, from Kingston Springs, Tenn., 

SPORTS

Michael 
Fishman

Men

Michigan
Maccabiah

Michigan men won gold, silver and 
bronze at the Maccabiah Games in Israel.

NATHANIEL WARSHAY CONTRIBUTING WRITER

