1957 Maccabiah Games

Twenty countries sent 980 athletes to compete in the 1957 5th Maccabiah Games, an international Jewish athletics competition similar to the Olympics.

5th Maccabiah
Host cityTel Aviv, Israel
Nations participating20
Debuting countries Mexico
Athletes participating980
Officially opened byYitzhak Ben Zvi
Main venueRamat Gan Stadium

The presence of many world-class Jewish athletes elevated the quality of competition. The athletes had been housed in the newly built Maccabiah Village.

Mexico sent its first contingent of athletes.

Rosenberg lived in Germany at that time, but Germany didn't have a team in that Maccabiah, so he competed for France.

History

The Maccabiah Games were first held in 1932.[1]

Notable medalists
Female runners at the Games.

Abie Grossfeld of the United States dominated the Games, winning seven golds in seven gymnastics events: AA, R, PH, FX, HB, PB, & V.

In fencing, British Olympian and world champion Allan Jay won three gold medals.[2][3] In track, Harry Kane of Britain won the 400 meter hurdles and took a silver medal in the 200 meter hurdles, with a time of 25.3 seconds.[4][5]

In fencing, American Byron Krieger, two-time Pan American Games gold-medal winner, won individual Gold in sabre and individual Bronze in foil.

In weightlifting, Isaac Berger became the first athlete to establish a world record in the State of Israel, pressing 258 pounds (117 kg) in Featherweight competition for the US, a year after winning an Olympic gold medal.

Ben Helfgott, a concentration camp survivor, won the weightlifting gold medal in the lightweight class for Great Britain for the third Games in a row.

Reuven Helman competed in shot-put, javelin, the decathlon and weightlifting. Helman came in second in 1957 in the Maccabiah Games.

Participating communities

The number in parentheses indicates the number of participants that community contributed.

References
  1. "The 20th Maccabiah Games: A brief History (Part 1)," The Canadian Jewish News.
  2. "The Canadian Jewish Chronicle - Google News Archive Search". news.google.com.
  3. "Allan Jay". www.jewishsports.net.
  4. "2 U.S. ATHLETES SCORE IN ISRAEL – Engel Is First in Hammer Throw-Laskau Retires After Winning Walk Israeli Team Leads Matza Misses 800-Heats". nytimes.com. 18 September 1957. Retrieved 28 October 2013.
  5. "America sets mark". The Leader-Post. 19 September 1957. Retrieved 28 October 2013.
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