2017 Maccabiah Games
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The 2017 Maccabiah Games ( he, משחקי המכביה 2017), also referred to as the 20th Maccabiah Games ( he, המכביה ה-20), were the 20th edition of the
Maccabiah Games The Maccabiah Games (a.k.a. the World Maccabiah Games; he, משחקי המכביה, or משחקי המכביה העולמית; sometimes referred to as the "Jewish Olympics"), first held in 1932, are an international Jewish and Israeli multi- ...
. They took place from 4 to 17 July 2017, in Israel. The Maccabiah Games are open to Jewish athletes from around the world, and to all
Israeli citizen Israeli citizenship law details the conditions by which a person holds citizenship of Israel. The two primary pieces of legislation governing these requirements are the 1950 Law of Return and 1952 Citizenship Law. Every Jew in the world h ...
s regardless of their religion. A total of 10,000 athletes competed, a Maccabiah Games record, making the 2017 Maccabiah Games the third-largest sporting competition in the world (after the
Olympics The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a vari ...
and the
FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often simply called the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the ' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The tournament has ...
)."Levine inducted into Jewish sports hall as Maccabiah athletes feted at JC,"
''Ottawa Sun''.
The athletes were from 85 countries, also a record. Countries represented for the first time included the Bahamas, Barbados, Cambodia, the Cayman Islands, Haiti, Malta, Morocco, the Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, and Trinidad (according to the official Games website Morocco debuted in 2013, and it does not list The Bahamas, Cambodia, Haiti, Malta, the Philippines, or Trinidad among participating nations). The athletes competed in 45 sports.


History

The Maccabiah Games were first held in
1932 Events January * January 4 – The British authorities in India arrest and intern Mahatma Gandhi and Vallabhbhai Patel. * January 9 – Sakuradamon Incident: Korean nationalist Lee Bong-chang fails in his effort to assassinate Emperor Hir ...
. In 1961, they were declared a "Regional Sports Event" by, and under the auspices and supervision of, the
International Olympic Committee The International Olympic Committee (IOC; french: link=no, Comité international olympique, ''CIO'') is a non-governmental sports organisation based in Lausanne, Switzerland. It is constituted in the form of an association under the Swis ...
.Mitchell G. Bard and Moshe Schwartz (2005)
''1001 Facts Everyone Should Know about Israel''
p. 84.
Among other Olympic and world champions, swimmer Mark Spitz won 10 Maccabiah gold medals before earning his first of nine Olympic gold medals.


Opening ceremonies

On 6 July 2017, the opening ceremonies took place at
Teddy Stadium Teddy Stadium ( he, אצטדיון טדי) is a sports stadium in the Malha neighborhood of Jerusalem. Three football teams currently use the stadium: Beitar Jerusalem, Hapoel Jerusalem, and the Israel national football team for select home mat ...
in Jerusalem, with 10,000 competitors in front of 30,000 spectators."Maccabiah Games: Your guide to celebrating the 'Jewish Olympics' in Israel; Maccabiah Games activities: A star-studded opening ceremony, a night run and parties, parties and more parties,"
''Haaretz''.
Seven athletes took part in the torch lighting ceremony, including Olympic gold-medal-winner swimmers American
Anthony Ervin Anthony Lee Ervin (born May 26, 1981) is an American competition swimmer who has won four Olympic medals and two World Championship golds. At the 2000 Summer Olympics, he won a gold medal in the men's 50-meter freestyle, and earned a silver med ...
and Frenchman Fabien Gilot."Ervin, Gilot To Participate In Torch Lighting At Maccabiah Games,"
''SwimSwam Magazine''.
Five Israelis participated in the torch lighting ceremony: Olympic medalists in judo
Ori Sasson Or "Ori" Sasson ( he, אור "אורי" ששון; born 18 August 1990) is a retired Israeli Olympic judoka. He won a bronze medal in the +100 kg category at the 2016 Summer Olympics and another one at the 2020 Summer Olympics. He is the se ...
and
Yarden Gerbi Yarden Gerbi (or Jerbi, he, ירדן ג'רבי; born July 8, 1989) is an Israeli former judoka world champion. She won an Olympic bronze medal competing for Israel at the 2016 Summer Olympics, in Women's 63 kg Judo. Gerbi won the gold med ...
, three-time Olympic gymnast
Neta Rivkin Neta Rivkin ( he, נטע ריבקין; born June 19, 1991) is a retired Israeli individual rhythmic gymnast. She is one of Israel's most successful rhythmic gymnasts. A three-time Olympian, in 2011 she won the silver medal in clubs at the 201 ...
,
National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball sports league, league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues i ...
player
Omri Casspi Omri Moshe Casspi ( he, עומרי משה כספי, born June 22, 1988) is an Israeli former professional basketball player. He mainly played at the small forward position, but could play also at the power forward position. Casspi was drafted 2 ...
, and Paralympic world champion rower
Moran Samuel Moran Samuel ( he, מורן סמואל; April 24, 1982) is an Israeli paralympic basketball player and world champion rower. She was chosen to light a ceremonial torch on Israel's Independence Day in 2019. She represented Israel at the 2020 Summer ...
."Watch: Maccabiah 2017 opens with a high-energy ceremony - and a surprise wedding,"
''The Times of Israel.''
The delegation march took place before Israeli President
Reuven Rivlin Reuven "Ruvi" Rivlin ( he, רְאוּבֵן "רוּבִי" רִיבְלִין ; born 9 September 1939) is an Israeli politician and lawyer who served as the tenth president of Israel between 2014 and 2021. He is a member of the Likud party. R ...
, Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu Benjamin "Bibi" Netanyahu (; ; born 21 October 1949) is an Israeli politician who served as the ninth prime minister of Israel from 1996 to 1999 and again from 2009 to 2021. He is currently serving as Leader of the Opposition and Chairman of ...
, and others. British Prime Minister
Theresa May Theresa Mary May, Lady May (; née Brasier; born 1 October 1956) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2016 to 2019. She previously served in David Cameron's cab ...
and Canadian Prime Minister
Justin Trudeau Justin Pierre James Trudeau ( , ; born December 25, 1971) is a Canadian politician who is the 23rd and current prime minister of Canada. He has served as the prime minister of Canada since 2015 and as the leader of the Liberal Party since ...
spoke to the crowd by means of pre-recorded videos. Canadian ice hockey player Avi Steinberg proposed to his girlfriend Rachel on stage, and then married her under a ''
chuppah A ''chuppah'' ( he, חוּפָּה, pl. חוּפּוֹת, ''chuppot'', literally, "canopy" or "covering"), also huppah, chipe, chupah, or chuppa, is a canopy under which a Jewish couple stand during their wedding ceremony. It consists of a c ...
'' on stage minutes later. Singers who performed included
Lior Narkis Lior Narkis ( he, ליאור נרקיס; born November 8, 1976 in Holon, Israel) is an Israeli singer. Biography Lior Narkis was born in Holon. His father, David Narkis, was of Iraqi-Jewish origin. His mother Hanna Narkis, was of Serbian-Jewis ...
,
Ester Rada Ester Rada ( he, אסתר רָדָא, born March 7, 1985) is an Israeli actress and singer. Biography Rada was born in Kiryat Arba, Israel, to a religious Ethiopian-Jewish family. Her parents, originally from a village near Gondar, were re ...
,
Omer Adam Omer Adam ( he, עומר אדם; born October 22, 1993) is an Israeli singer whose music fuses elements of eastern Mizrahi music (Oriental-Middle Eastern) and Western Pop instrumentation. In 2009, he participated in the seventh season of '' Kok ...
,
Victoria Hanna Victoria Hanna (Hebrew: ויקטוריה חנה; a stage name consisting of her first and middle names) is a multi-disciplinary artist, voice and language explorer, composer and creator active in both the Israeli and international spheres..
, and Marina Maximillian."Maccabiah marriage: A surprise proposal turned surprise wedding,"
''The Jerusalem Post''.


Notable competitors

American three-time Olympic champion swimmer
Anthony Ervin Anthony Lee Ervin (born May 26, 1981) is an American competition swimmer who has won four Olympic medals and two World Championship golds. At the 2000 Summer Olympics, he won a gold medal in the men's 50-meter freestyle, and earned a silver med ...
won gold medals in the 50-meter freestyle (with a time of 22.05 seconds), the 100-meter freestyle (with a time of 49.76 seconds), and the 4 × 100 m medley relay (with the Americans clocking 3:41.82)."Ervin wraps up Maccabiah experience with two more gold medals,"
''The Jerusalem Post''.
"Ervin captures gold in 100-meter freestyle,"
''The Jerusalem Post''.
American
B. J. Johnson Bernard Henry (B.J.) Johnson (born April 20, 1987) is an American swimming (sport), swimmer who specializes in breaststroke swimming, breaststroke events. Early and personal life Johnson was born in Seattle, Washington, and is Jewish.
won gold medals in the men's 100m
breaststroke Breaststroke is a human swimming, swimming style in which the swimmer is on their chest and the torso does not rotate. It is the most popular recreational style due to the swimmer's head being out of the water a large portion of the time, and ...
, with a time of 1:01.27 (a new Maccabiah record), as well as in the 200m breaststroke, with a time of 2:11.60."Ervin Opens Maccabiah Games With 100 Free Gold,"
''SwimSwam Magazine''.
In the special 4x50m relay race between Israeli and American all-star teams, American Olympic champions
Lenny Krayzelburg Lenny Krayzelburg (born September 28, 1975, as Leonid Krayzelburg; uk, Леонід Крайзельбург, russian: link=no, Леони́д Кра́йзельбург) is an American former backstroke swimmer, Olympic gold medalist, and form ...
(four Olympic golds),
Jason Lezak Jason Edward Lezak (born November 12, 1975) is an American former competitive swimmer and swimming executive. As a swimmer, Lezak specialized in the 50-meter and 100-meter freestyle races. His pro career lasted for nearly fifteen years, spannin ...
(four Olympic golds), and Ervin, with masters swimmer Alex Blavatnik, swam a time of 1:48.23 and defeated Israeli Olympians
Guy Barnea Guy Marcos Barnea (; born 9 September 1987) is an Israeli swimmer who represented Israel at the 2008 Summer Olympics, and has won three medals at the European Championships. As of March 2016, he held the Israeli records in the long course 50m ...
, Yoav Bruck, Eran Groumi, and
Tal Stricker Tal Stricker (born May 29, 1979) is a breaststroke swimmer from Israel, who competed for Israel at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia. Early life Stricker was born in Ramat Gan, Israel, and his parents are Rafi and Nava Stricker. He ...
, who had a time of 1:51.25. American
Jessica Antiles Jessica Antiles (born December 25, 1996) is an American swimmer. Antiles was one of 24 swimmers who swam for Team USA at the 2017 Maccabiah Games, where she won two medals. Personal life Antiles grew up in South Orange, New Jersey, is the daughte ...
won the silver medal in the 400m individual medley and a bronze medal in the 200m individual medley. In soccer,
Sam Raben Sam Raben (born May 11, 1997) is an American soccer player who plays as a defender. He won a gold medal with Team USA in the 2017 Maccabiah Games in Israel. Before turning pro, he played two seasons in the Premier Development League with ...
and
Jake Rozhansky Jake Michael Rozhansky ( he, ג'ייק מייקל רוזנסקי, born 4 July 1996) is an American soccer player who plays as a midfielder for MLS Next Pro side New England Revolution II. During his career, he has previously appeared for D.C. U ...
were part of Team USA's gold medal winning team.
Josh Kennet Joshua Simon Kennet (born 27 September 1987) is an English-Israeli footballer currently with London Lions. Early and personal life Kennet is Jewish, and was born to a Jewish family in Camden, England. His father Eilon was born in Israel, and ...
won a silver medal with Great Britain in soccer.
Ilan Boccara Ilan Boccara (born 14 May 1993) is a former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. He formerly played for Ajax where he was acquired from the youth ranks of Paris Saint-Germain. Born in France, he represented the Netherlands intern ...
played for France, which came in 7th,
Alon Abelski Alon Alexander Abelski (born 29 May 1989) is a German footballer who plays for Sportfreunde Baumberg. Biography Playing career Abelski made his full debut on 17 January 2010 in a 2. Bundesliga match against FSV Frankfurt. After being rele ...
played for Germany, and David Cuperman played for Colombia. Israeli soccer player
Shani David Shani David ( he, שני דוד; born July 6, 1991) is an Israeli football defender, currently playing for Maccabi Kishronot Hadera. She is a member of the Israeli national team, having played her debut for the national team against Belarus.< ...
scored a goal in the final for Israel as it beat Team USA to win a gold medal in women's soccer. Australian Melissa Maizels competed in soccer. Team USA won a gold medal in basketball with among others
Jordan Cohen Jordan Cohen (ג'ורדן כהן; born July 31, 1997) is an American-Israeli basketball player for Maccabi Haifa in the Israel Basketball Premier League, who plays the point guard position. Early life Cohen was born in Tarzana, California, and ...
,
Sam Singer Samuel Singer (August 27, 1912 – January 25, 2001) was an American animator and animation producer. He is best known as executive producer of '' The Adventures of Pow Wow'', a cartoon which also later appeared as a segment of early episodes ...
, and Travis Warech, as they were coached by
Doug Gottlieb Douglas Mitchell Gottlieb (born January 15, 1976) is an American basketball analyst and sports talk radio host. He played both NCAA collegiate basketball, twice leading the nation in assists, and professional basketball (including USBL; leading ...
. In fencing, American Olympic fencer
Eli Dershwitz Eli Dershwitz (born September 23, 1995) is an American left-handed sabre fencer, four-time individual Pan American champion, and two-time Olympian. In 2014, Dershwitz won the US Men's Saber National Championship, becoming the youngest US senio ...
, former junior world champion and ranked #1 in the world the following year, won individual and team gold medal in sabre. Canadian Olympian Josh Binstock and his partner won the gold medal in men's beach volleyball. Cricketer
Zac Elkin Zac Elkin (born 21 June 1991 in Cape Town) is a South African cricketer, who played four games of first-class cricket for Cardiff MCCU. He won a gold medal with Team South Africa at the 2017 Maccabiah Games.Mark Bott won a silver medal with Great Britain. Israeli-American Olympic swimmer
Andrea Murez Andrea "Andi" Murez ( he, אנדראה "אנדי" מורז; born January 29, 1992), is an Israeli-American Olympic swimmer. She swam for Israel at the 2016 Summer Olympics. She will represent Israel at the 2020 Summer Olympics. She represented t ...
(competing now as an Israeli having moved to Israel in 2014) won the women's 100m freestyle, with a time of 55.15 seconds, and set a new Games record as she also won the 200m freestyle in 1:59.80."Murez Picks Up 2nd Gold Of Maccabiah Games With 1:59 200 Free,"
''SwimSwam Magazine''.
Israeli Olympic swimmer
Keren Siebner Keren Michaela Siebner ( he, קרן זיבנר; also Zibner, born 1990), is an Israeli Olympic swimmer, Israeli national champion, Maccabiah Games winner, and a national record holder in the 200m butterfly and 200m backstroke. Early and person ...
won the 200m
butterfly Butterflies are insects in the macrolepidopteran clade Rhopalocera from the order Lepidoptera, which also includes moths. Adult butterflies have large, often brightly coloured wings, and conspicuous, fluttering flight. The group compris ...
with a time of 2:16.57. Israeli Olympic swimmer Amit Ivry (59.37) and Siebner (1:00.01) won the gold and silver medals in the women's 100m butterfly. Ivry, Siebner, Shahar Menahem, and Or Tamir set an Israeli national record in the women's 4 × 100 m medley relay with a time of 4:11.67 as they won a silver medal. Israeli Olympian and former European Junior Swimming Champion in the 100m
backstroke Backstroke or back crawl is one of the four swimming styles used in competitive events regulated by FINA, and the only one of these styles swum on the back. This swimming style has the advantage of easy breathing, but the disadvantage of swimm ...
Yakov Toumarkin won the men's 200m backstroke in a time of 2:00.17. Israeli swimmer Bar Soloveychik also competed at the Games. In track, Canadian
Pan American Games The Pan American Games (also known colloquially as the Pan Am Games) is a continental multi-sport event in the Americas featuring summer sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The competition is hel ...
medalist
Sasha Gollish Sasha Gollish (born December 27, 1981) is a Canadian competitive runner. She won a gold medal in the half-marathon at the 2013 Maccabiah Games in Israel, a bronze medal in the 1500 m at the 2015 Pan American Games, and gold medals at the 2017 ...
won gold medals in the 800m, 1,500m, and 5,000m events, and was named Female Athlete of the Games. Diana Vaisman of Israel set the Games record in the 100 m dash with a time of 11.71, winning a gold medal. Israeli javelin thrower
Marharyta Dorozhon Marharyta Serhiïvna Dorozhon ( ua, Маргарита Сергіївна Дорожон, he, מרגריטה סרגייבנה דורוז'ון; born 4 September 1987) is an Israeli javelin thrower. Born and raised in Ukraine, she competed for t ...
won the women's competition with a throw of 63.07m, qualifying her for the
2017 World Championships in Athletics Seventeen or 17 may refer to: *17 (number), the natural number following 16 and preceding 18 * one of the years 17 BC, AD 17, 1917, 2017 Literature Magazines * ''Seventeen'' (American magazine), an American magazine * ''Seventeen'' (Japanese m ...
."Dorozhon wins javelin gold, secures spot in World Championships,"
''The Jerusalem Post''.
Israeli Olympic judoka
Gili Cohen Gili Cohen ( he, גילי כהן; born June 19, 1991) is an Israeli retired Olympic judoka. In 2013, she won the silver medal at the European U23 Championships, and she was a bronze medalist at the 2014 European Judo Championships. She compe ...
won the gold medal in the under-57 kg judo event. Israeli Olympian
Misha Zilberman Misha Zilberman ( he, מישה זילברמן, russian: Миша Зильберман; born 30 January 1989) is an Israeli badminton player. He competed for Israel at the 2012, 2016, and 2020 Summer Olympics. He also won a bronze medal at the 20 ...
won a gold medal in badminton mixed doubles, and Israeli
Ksenia Polikarpova Ksenia Olegovna Polikarpova (russian: Ксения Олеговна Поликарпова, he, קסניה פוליקרפובה; born 11 March 1990) is Russian-Israeli Olympic badminton player. In 2009, she won a bronze medal at the European ...
won a gold medal in badminton. Israeli individual
rhythmic gymnast Rhythmic gymnastics is a sport in which gymnasts perform on a floor with an apparatus: hoop, ball, clubs, ribbon. The sport combines elements of gymnastics, dance and calisthenics; gymnasts must be strong, flexible, agile, dexterous and coord ...
Linoy Ashram Linoy Ashram ( he, לינוי אשרם; born ) is a retired Israeli individual rhythmic gymnast. She is the 2020 Olympic All-around Champion, the 2018 World All-around silver medalist, two-time (2017, 2019) World All-around bronze medalist, the ...
, the 2015 Rhythmic Gymnastics Grand Prix all-around silver medalist, won all five gold medals (the all-around, ball, ribbon, hoop, and clubs). Israeli artistic gymnast
Artem Dolgopyat Artem Olegovich Dolgopyat ( he, ארטיום אולגוביץ' דולגופיאט; ukr, Артем Олегович Долгопят; born 16 June 1997) is a Ukrainian-born Israeli artistic gymnast. He is the 2020 Olympic champion on floor e ...
won two gold medals in the floor exercise and pommel horse, and a bronze medal in the vault, and Israeli gymnast Andrey Medvedev won three bronze medals. Israeli future Olympian and European Championships bronze medalist gymnast Lihie Raz won the gold medal on floor. Israeli gymnast
Ofir Netzer Ofir Netzer (born 13 May 1996) is an Israeli Artistic gymnastics, artistic gymnast. She is the 2018 FIG Artistic Gymnastics World Cup series#World Challenge Cup series 3, 2018 FIG World Challenge Cup series champion and 2017 Maccabiah Games cha ...
won a gold medal in the vault. Israeli Daniel Poleshchuk won a gold medal in Men's Open Squash. 2013 World Women's Chess Champion
Anna Ushenina Anna Yuriyivna Ushenina (; born 30 August 1985) is a Ukrainian chess grandmaster who was Women's World Chess Champion from November 2012 to September 2013. Personal life Ushenina lives in Kharkiv, where she was born. She is of Jewish ethnici ...
of Ukraine won a silver medal in the second grandmasters group, which was won by Israeli grandmaster Tal Baron, in a field that included Israeli champion grandmaster
Victor Mikhalevski Victor (Viktor) Mikhalevski ( he, ויקטור מיכלבסקי; born 8 July 1972) is an Israeli chess grandmaster who lives in Beersheba. his Elo rating was 2611, making him the #7 player in Israel and the 171st-highest rated player in the w ...
. German grandmaster Georg Meier won the main Grandmaster tournament, ahead of Ukrainian grandmaster and former European champion Alexander Moiseenko. Canadian
Anthony Housefather Anthony Housefather (born January 25, 1973) is a Canadian Member of Parliament representing the riding of Mount Royal on the island of Montreal. From 2015 to 2019, Housefather served as the Chair of the Justice and Human Rights Committee. Fo ...
won five medals (three silver medals and two bronze medals) in a number of Masters (35+) swimming events. Zack Test, with
Shawn Lipman Shawn Lipman (born 25 September 1964) is an American South African-born rugby union player. He was inducted into the US Rugby Hall of Fame in 2019, together with US Internationals Luke Gross and Vaea Anitoni. Lipman was also inducted into the ...
as head coach, represented the United States in rugby union, and won a bronze medal.


Participating countries

The Maccabiah Games are open to Jewish athletes from around the world, and to all
Israeli citizen Israeli citizenship law details the conditions by which a person holds citizenship of Israel. The two primary pieces of legislation governing these requirements are the 1950 Law of Return and 1952 Citizenship Law. Every Jew in the world h ...
s regardless of their religion. Some delegations have more relaxed rules about participation; for example, the Brazil junior football team included Ronald, the son of former three-time
FIFA World Player of the Year The FIFA World Player of the Year was an association football award presented annually by the sport's governing body, FIFA, between 1991 and 2015 at the FIFA World Player Gala. Coaches and captains of international teams and media representati ...
Ronaldo Ronaldo is a Portuguese given name equivalent to the English Ronald. It became a common name in all Portuguese-speaking countries, being also prevalent in Italy and Spanish-speaking countries. People Notable people known as Ronaldo include: As ...
, who is not Jewish, but has been a member of the Jewish football club Hebraica for years. The athletes were from a record 85 countries. Countries represented for the first time include the Bahamas, Cambodia, the Cayman Islands, Haiti, Malta, Morocco, the Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, and Trinidad (according to the official Web site of the Games, Morocco debuted in 2013, official Web site of the Games does not list Malta or Trinidad among participating nations) A total of 10,000 athletes competed, a Maccabiah Games record, making the 2017 Maccabiah Games the third-largest sporting competition in the world (after the
Olympics The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a vari ...
and the
FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often simply called the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the ' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The tournament has ...
). Israel fielded the largest delegation, with 2,500 competitors led by Olympic windsurfer
Maayan Davidovich Maayan Davidovich ( he, מעין דוידוביץ'; born May 21, 1988) is an Israeli Olympic windsurfer. Biography Davidovich is Jewish, and her hometown is Herzliya, Israel. She competes with the club Hapoel Tel Aviv. She started sailing at th ...
."International Jewish athletes 'return' to Jerusalem for 20th Maccabiah Games,"
''Heritage Florida Jewish News''.

Ynet.
The US delegation of over 1,100 athletes came from over 42 states, and was the second-largest delegation."Maccabi USA To Bring Largest Sports Delegation Ever To World Maccabiah Games,"
Maccabi USA.
For Team USA, Olympians
Eli Dershwitz Eli Dershwitz (born September 23, 1995) is an American left-handed sabre fencer, four-time individual Pan American champion, and two-time Olympian. In 2014, Dershwitz won the US Men's Saber National Championship, becoming the youngest US senio ...
(fencing), Anthony Ervin (swimming), and Zach Test (rugby 7's) competed, and Olympic gold medalists and Maccabiah Games alumni
Lenny Krayzelburg Lenny Krayzelburg (born September 28, 1975, as Leonid Krayzelburg; uk, Леонід Крайзельбург, russian: link=no, Леони́д Кра́йзельбург) is an American former backstroke swimmer, Olympic gold medalist, and form ...
and
Jason Lezak Jason Edward Lezak (born November 12, 1975) is an American former competitive swimmer and swimming executive. As a swimmer, Lezak specialized in the 50-meter and 100-meter freestyle races. His pro career lasted for nearly fifteen years, spannin ...
joined the team as Maccabi Ambassadors, and swam two exhibition relays. The Argentinian, Australian, and Canadian delegations each had approximately 650 athletes, Brazil's delegation had 491 members, and Great Britain was represented by 375 competitors. The following countries sent delegations to the 2017 Maccabiah Games; numbers in parentheses indicate number of competitors: * (3) * (650) * (650) * * * (2)"At Maccabiah Games opening: Singing, dancing and a hockey player’s wedding,"
Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
* * * (5) * (491) * (650) * (4) * * "One delegation, two systems: Hong Kong and China team off to Maccabiah Games in Israel,"
''South China Morning Post''.
* * * * * * * (1) * * * * * * (20) * (375) * * (60, including medical staff and board) * * * * (30) * * (2,500) * (50) * (2) * * * * * (28) * * * * (Morocco participated before the 2013 and 2017 editions of the games)(1) * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * (Olympics design for Chinese Taipei did not use during the event) * * * * (1,100+) * * * * * MWU (1) * EMC (9)


Sports

Athletes at the Games competed in 45 sports, at 68 sports complexes throughout Israel. The Games recognize all Olympic sports. The sports with the greatest number of competitors were soccer (1,401 athletes from 20 countries), swimming (712 competitors from 34 countries), tennis (537 competitors from 35 countries), and basketball (466 competitors from 13 countries). The sporting events included: *Aquatics **
Swimming Swimming is the self-propulsion of a person through water, or other liquid, usually for recreation, sport, exercise, or survival. Locomotion is achieved through coordinated movement of the limbs and the body to achieve hydrodynamic thrust that r ...
** Swimming (open water) ** Swimming (paralympic) **
Water Polo Water polo is a competitive team sport played in water between two teams of seven players each. The game consists of four quarters in which the teams attempt to score goals by throwing the ball into the opposing team's goal. The team with th ...
*Archery *
Athletics Athletics may refer to: Sports * Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking ** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport * Athletics (physical culture), competi ...
**Half Marathon **Track and field *
Badminton Badminton is a racquet sport played using racquets to hit a shuttlecock across a net. Although it may be played with larger teams, the most common forms of the game are "singles" (with one player per side) and "doubles" (with two players p ...
*
Baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding t ...
*Basketball **
Basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...
**
Wheelchair basketball Wheelchair basketball is basketball played by people with varying physical disabilities that disqualify them from playing a non-disabled sport. These include spina bifida, birth defects, cerebral palsy, paralysis due to accident, amputations (of ...
*Bowling **
Lawn Bowling Bowls, also known as lawn bowls or lawn bowling, is a sport in which the objective is to roll biased balls so that they stop close to a smaller ball called a "jack" or "kitty". It is played on a bowling green, which may be flat (for "flat-gre ...
** Ten Pin Bowling *Bridge *Chess *
Cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by st ...
*
Cycling Cycling, also, when on a two-wheeled bicycle, called bicycling or biking, is the use of cycles for transport, recreation, exercise or sport. People engaged in cycling are referred to as "cyclists", "bicyclists", or "bikers". Apart from ...
*
Equestrian The word equestrian is a reference to equestrianism, or horseback riding, derived from Latin ' and ', "horse". Horseback riding (or Riding in British English) Examples of this are: *Equestrian sports *Equestrian order, one of the upper classes in ...
*
Fencing Fencing is a group of three related combat sports. The three disciplines in modern fencing are the foil, the épée, and the sabre (also ''saber''); winning points are made through the weapon's contact with an opponent. A fourth discipline, ...
*
Field Hockey Field hockey is a team sport structured in standard hockey format, in which each team plays with ten outfield players and a goalkeeper. Teams must drive a round hockey ball by hitting it with a hockey stick towards the rival team's shooting ...
*Football **Football **
Futsal Futsal is a football-based game played on a hard court smaller than a football pitch, and mainly indoors. It has similarities to five-a-side football and indoor football. Futsal is played between two teams of five players each, one of whom is ...
*
Golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping wi ...
*
Gymnastics Gymnastics is a type of sport that includes physical exercises requiring balance, strength, flexibility, agility, coordination, dedication and endurance. The movements involved in gymnastics contribute to the development of the arms, legs, s ...
**Artistic **Rhythmic *
Handball Handball (also known as team handball, European handball or Olympic handball) is a team sport in which two teams of seven players each (six outcourt players and a goalkeeper) pass a ball using their hands with the aim of throwing it into the ...
*Ice Hockey *
Judo is an unarmed modern Japanese martial art, Olympic sport (since 1964), and the most prominent form of jacket wrestling competed internationally.『日本大百科全書』電子版【柔道】(CD-ROM version of Encyclopedia Nipponica, "Judo") ...
*
Karate (; ; Okinawan pronunciation: ) is a martial art developed in the Ryukyu Kingdom. It developed from the indigenous Ryukyuan martial arts (called , "hand"; ''tii'' in Okinawan) under the influence of Chinese martial arts, particularly Fuj ...
*
Lacrosse Lacrosse is a team sport played with a lacrosse stick and a lacrosse ball. It is the oldest organized sport in North America, with its origins with the indigenous people of North America as early as the 12th century. The game was extensiv ...
*Maccabi Men/Women *Netball *Rowing *Rugby ** Rugby 7s ** Rugby 15s *
Softball Softball is a game similar to baseball played with a larger ball on a smaller field. Softball is played competitively at club levels, the college level, and the professional level. The game was first created in 1887 in Chicago by George Hanc ...
* Squash *
Table Tennis Table tennis, also known as ping-pong and whiff-whaff, is a sport in which two or four players hit a lightweight ball, also known as the ping-pong ball, back and forth across a table using small solid rackets. It takes place on a hard table div ...
*
Taekwondo ''Taekwondo'', ''Tae Kwon Do'' or ''Taekwon-Do'' (; ko, 태권도/跆拳道 ) is a Korean martial arts, Korean form of martial arts involving punching and kicking techniques, with emphasis on head-height kicks, spinning jump kicks, and fast k ...
*Tennis **
Tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball cov ...
** Wheelchair Tennis *
Triathlon A triathlon is an endurance multisport race consisting of swimming, cycling, and running over various distances. Triathletes compete for fastest overall completion time, racing each segment sequentially with the time transitioning between the ...
*Volleyball **
Volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Sum ...
**
Beach Volleyball Beach volleyball is a team sport played by two teams of two or more players on a sand court divided by a net. Similar to indoor volleyball, the objective of the game is to send the ball over the net and to ground it on the opponent's side of th ...
*
Wrestling Wrestling is a series of combat sports involving grappling-type techniques such as clinch fighting, throws and takedowns, joint locks, pins and other grappling holds. Wrestling techniques have been incorporated into martial arts, combat s ...
**Freestyle **Greco-Roman


Medal count

Israel won the most medals, a total of 470 (173 gold medals, 150 silver, and 147 bronze)."Marylanders earn medals at 20th Maccabiah Games,"
''Baltimore Sun''.
"Medals - 20th Maccabiah 2017,"
Maccabiah.com.
Team USA finished second with 164 medals (50 gold, 67 silver, and 47 bronze). Australia came in third (40; 9 gold, 19 silver, and 12 bronze), and Canada came in fourth (23; 10 gold, 6 silver, and 7 bronze). Hungary took fifth with 17 medals (6 gold, 7 silver, and 4 bronze). South Africa came in sixth with 15 medals (9 gold, 1 silver, and 5 bronze). Tied for seventh with 14 medals were Germany (7 gold, 1 silver, and 6 bronze), Great Britain (4 gold, 5 silver, and 5 bronze), and Russia (1 gold, 2 silver, and 11 bronze). Ukraine came in 10th with 13 medals (3 gold, 8 silver, and 2 bronze), followed by France with 12 (3 gold, 5 silver, and 4 bronze).


Medals table for Open competition (Senior; 291 gold)

59 countries; 30 countries won medals. * Source
maccabiah.com


Medals table for Masters competition

* Source
maccabiah.com


Medals table for Junior competition

* Source
maccabiah.com


Medals table for Para competition

* Source
maccabiah.com


Closing ceremony

The closing ceremony in
Latrun Latrun ( he, לטרון, ''Latrun''; ar, اللطرون, ''al-Latrun'') is a strategic hilltop in the Latrun salient in the Ayalon Valley, and a depopulated Palestinian village. It overlooks the road between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, 25 kilometers ...
, between
Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( he, תֵּל־אָבִיב-יָפוֹ, translit=Tēl-ʾĀvīv-Yāfō ; ar, تَلّ أَبِيب – يَافَا, translit=Tall ʾAbīb-Yāfā, links=no), often referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the G ...
and
Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...
, on July 17, 2017, was hosted by
Bar Refaeli Bar Refaeli ( he, בר רפאלי; born ) is an Israeli model, television host, businesswoman and actress. She is among the most internationally successful models to come from Israel, appearing on the cover of the 2009 ''Sports Illustrated'' Sw ...
."20th Maccabiah Games open with spectacular Jerusalem ceremony,"
''The Jerusalem Post''.
">"Athletes make last medal pushes,"
''The Jerusalem Post''.
Refaeli presented Canadian Pan American Games medalist
Sasha Gollish Sasha Gollish (born December 27, 1981) is a Canadian competitive runner. She won a gold medal in the half-marathon at the 2013 Maccabiah Games in Israel, a bronze medal in the 1500 m at the 2015 Pan American Games, and gold medals at the 2017 ...
, who won three gold medals in track, with the Female Athlete of the Games Award. Israeli Minister of Culture and Sport
Miri Regev Miriam "Miri" Regev ( he, מִרְיָם "מִירִי" רֶגֶב; born Miriam Siboni on 26 May 1965) is an Israeli politician and a former brigadier-general in the Israel Defense Forces, in which she served as IDF Spokeswoman. She currently s ...
passed the Maccabiah torch to a number of Maccabiah athletes.


See also

* Sport in Israel


References


External links


Official website
(Archive) {{Maccabiah Games
Maccabiah Games The Maccabiah Games (a.k.a. the World Maccabiah Games; he, משחקי המכביה, or משחקי המכביה העולמית; sometimes referred to as the "Jewish Olympics"), first held in 1932, are an international Jewish and Israeli multi- ...
Maccabiah Games The Maccabiah Games (a.k.a. the World Maccabiah Games; he, משחקי המכביה, or משחקי המכביה העולמית; sometimes referred to as the "Jewish Olympics"), first held in 1932, are an international Jewish and Israeli multi- ...
Maccabiah Games 2010s in Jerusalem