1997 Maccabiah Games

1997 Maccabiah Games

Maccabiah Infobox
Name = Games of the XV Maccabiah



Size = 150
Optional caption =
Opening city = Ramat Gan
Nations participating = 53
Athletes participating = 5,500
Events = 34
Opening ceremony =
Closing ceremony =
Officially opened by =
Stadium = National Stadium
The 1997 Maccabiah Games were one of the most famous games ever in history, as they were marred with tragedy when a bridge collapsed.

The 15th Maccabiah had more than 5,000 athletes from 53 countries competing in 36 sports.

New sports for the Games included beach volleyball, ice hockey, and taekwondo.

The Games were marred by the collapse of the bridge, causing some athletes on the bridge who were marching into the Ramat Gan Stadium in Tel Aviv for the Opening Ceremony to fall into the highly-polluted Yarkon River; the polluted waters were considered a major factor in the deaths and injuries. "Bridge Disaster Commemorated", "Dateline World jewry", World Jewish Congress, September, 2007] Four Australians, Greg Small, Elizabeth Sawicki, Yetty Bennett, and Warren Zines, were killed when the bridge, supporting the Australian delegation, collapsed. Sixty others were injured.

After the accident, both the Opening Ceremony and the Games themselves continued——albeit with lower enthusiasm——with spectators in the stadium not given any information as to what had happened. The ceremony was delayed, and then only the torch lighting aspect of the ceremony took place. Spectators became aware that something was wrong when none of the scheduled events took place, including the march of the athletes, and when they listened to the radio. Many inquests were completed into the collapse of the bridge by both Israeli and Australian authorities and Yoram Eyal was convicted has his culpability in the incident. [ [http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=586643 Ha'aretz] 29 June 2005 "Maccabiah official convicted over bridge disaster accedes to Australian demand" By Charlotte Halle] To commemorate the tenth anniversary of the disaster, on July 20, 2007, a ceremony was held at Tel Aviv's Hayarkon Park.

Michael Halika of Israel who won the 800m Freestyle and the 400m Individual Medley, among a total of 5 individual and 2 team gold medals.

1992 Olympian Tamara Levinson earned 5 golds in rhythmic gymnastics.

Participating Communities

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

Links

* [http://www.jewishsports.net/the_maccabiah_games.htm Summaries of each of the Games]

Footnotes


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужно решить контрольную?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Maccabiah Games —    Quadrennial Jewish Olympics held in Israel the year following the Summer Olympic Games. Staged under the auspices of the Israel based Maccabi World Union, Jewish athletes from throughout the world compete. The first Maccabiah Games were held… …   Historical Dictionary of Israel

  • 2001 Maccabiah Games — Maccabiah Infobox Name = Games of the XVI Maccabiah Size = 150 Optional caption = Opening city = Jerusalem, Israel Nations participating = 46 Athletes participating = 5,281 Events = 38 Opening ceremony = July 16 2001 Closing ceremony = July 23… …   Wikipedia

  • Cricket at the 2005 Maccabiah Games — The cricket tournament at the 2005 Maccabiah Games started on July 10. Cricket had not been an event at the Maccabiah since the 1997 Maccabiah, and for the first time was played both as a senior tournament as well as a youth (under 18) tournament …   Wikipedia

  • MACCABIAH — MACCABIAH, international games, recognized and approved by the International Olympic Committee, held every four years in Israel and open to athletes of the Jewish faith from all countries. The aim of the Maccabiah is to raise the standard of… …   Encyclopedia of Judaism

  • X Games — For the computer game series, see X (game series). X Games Most recent season or competition: X Games XVII Sport Extreme sports Founded 1995 …   Wikipedia

  • Mediterranean Games — Alexandria Mediterranean Games 1951 Flag of the games …   Wikipedia

  • Olympic Games — For the 776 BC to AD 393 Games see Ancient Olympic Games. For the most recent Summer Games in Beijing, see 2008 Summer Olympics. For the most recent Winter Games in Vancouver, see 2010 Winter Olympics. For the next Summer Games in London, see… …   Wikipedia

  • North American Indigenous Games — The North American Indigenous Games is a multi sport event involving indigenous North American athletes staged intermittently since 1990. The 2006 staging of the Games were managed by the Native American Sports Council, Inc., a non profit member… …   Wikipedia

  • Commonwealth Games — Federation seal, adopted in 2001 Motto Humanity – Equality – Destiny Headquarters …   Wikipedia

  • International Island Games Association — The International Island Games Association (IGA) is an organisation the sole purpose of which is to organise the Island Games, a friendly biennial athletic competition between teams from several European islands and other small territories. The… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”