Esther Roth-Shahamorov ( he, אסתר רוט-שחמורוב; born April 16, 1952) is a former

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping events ...

athlete. She specialized in the

100-meter hurdles The 100 metres hurdles, or 100-meter hurdles, is a track and field event run mainly by women (the male counterpart is the 110 metres hurdles). For the race, ten hurdles of a height of are placed along a straight course of . The first hurdle is p ...

and the 100-meter

sprint Sprint may refer to: Aerospace *Spring WS202 Sprint, a Canadian aircraft design *Sprint (missile), an anti-ballistic missile Automotive and motorcycle *Alfa Romeo Sprint, automobile produced by Alfa Romeo between 1976 and 1989 *Chevrolet Sprint, ...

Early and personal life

Esther Shahamorov was born in

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 ...

, to an

Ashkenazi Jewish Ashkenazi Jews ( ; he, יְהוּדֵי אַשְׁכְּנַז, translit=Yehudei Ashkenaz, ; yi, אַשכּנזישע ייִדן, Ashkenazishe Yidn), also known as Ashkenazic Jews or ''Ashkenazim'',, Ashkenazi Hebrew pronunciation: , singu ...

family. In 1973, she married Peter Roth, a gymnast, who became her coach. She has a son, Yaron (born 1974), who was a national champion in fencing, and a daughter, Einat. After she retired from competitive sport she became a sports schoolteacher.

Track career

Records

She once held simultaneously five Israeli national records. One of them is still a record and two others held for over 20 years. *Her time of 11.45s in the 100m, set at the

1972 Summer Olympics The 1972 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XX Olympiad () and commonly known as Munich 1972 (german: München 1972), was an international multi-sport event held in Munich, West Germany, from 26 August to 11 September 1972. ...

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...

, was broken on Sat Apr 19, 2014, by Olga Lansky. Lansky's result though was vacated later the same year due to skipping mandatory drug test after the competition. *Her time of 12.93s in the 100m hurdles, set in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

shortly after the

1976 Summer Olympics Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 Phi ...

, stood as a national record for 26 years, until it was broken by

Irina Lenskiy Irina Lenskiy ( he, אירנה לנסקי; born 12 June 1971) is a Ukrainian-born Israeli athlete who specializes in the 100 metres hurdles. Personal life She is of Jewish background, and was a Ukraine, Ukrainian citizen, known as Irina Lenskaya, ...

in 2002. *Her time of 23.57s in the 200m, set in

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; Swabian: ; ) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the Neckar river in a fertile valley known as the ''Stuttgarter Kessel'' (Stuttgart Cauldron) and lies an hour from the ...

in 1975, held as a record for 29 years, until it was broken, also by Lenskiy, in 2002. *Her mark of 6.14m in the long jump was a national record from 1971 to 1984. *Her record of 4837 points in the

Women's pentathlon The pentathlon or women's pentathlon is a combined track and field event in which each woman competes in five separate events over one day (formerly two days). The distance or time for each event is converted to points via scoring tables, with ...

was a national record from 1971 until the format was changed in 1977.

Asian Games

Roth won five

gold medal A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture. Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have bee ...

s and one silver medal in two

Asian Games The Asian Games, also known as Asiad, is a continental multi-sport event held every four years among athletes from all over Asia. The Games were regulated by the Asian Games Federation (AGF) from the first Games in New Delhi, India, until t ...

. She won golds in 100m hurdles and pentathlon and a silver in long jump in

1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli intensity of X (''Extrem ...

, and three golds, in 100 m, 200 m, and 100 m hurdles, in

1974 Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur War determined politics; f ...

Olympics

At the

, Roth just barely missed qualifying for the final in the 100-meter sprint. She qualified for the 100-meter hurdles semifinal, but withdrew from the Games, together with the remaining members of the Israel Olympic team, after the murder of her longtime coach,

Amitzur Shapira Amitzur Shapira ( he, עמיצור שפירא; 9 July 1932 – 6 September 1972) was an Israeli sprinter and long jumper. He was head coach for the Israeli track and field team at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, Germany. He was murdered by ...

, and ten other members of the Israeli team, by

Palestinian terrorist Palestinian political violence refers to acts of violence perpetrated for political ends in relation to the State of Palestine or in connection with Palestinian nationalism. Common political objectives include self-determination in and soverei ...

s. In

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

where she was the Israeli flag-bearer, Roth became the first ever Israeli athlete to reach the finals in any Olympic event, and she is still the only Israeli Olympic finalist in track events, when she finished 6th in the 100-meter hurdles with a time of 13.04 seconds.

Maccabiah Games

Roth won the

long jump The long jump is a track and field event in which athletes combine speed, strength and agility in an attempt to leap as far as possible from a takeoff point. Along with the triple jump, the two events that measure jumping for distance as a gr ...

in the

1969 Maccabiah Games At the 8th Maccabiah Games from July 29 to August 7, 1969, 1,450 athletes from 27 countries competed in 22 sports in Israel. The final gold medal count was the United States in first place (64), Israel second (48; though it won the greatest numbe ...

with a 19-foot, 3/4 inch (5.81 meter) jump. She won the 100-meter race in the

1973 Maccabiah Games The 9th Maccabiah Games, which were held from July 9 to 19, 1973, were opened in Ramat Gan Stadium, Israel. Spain and Costa Rica made their debuts in the Games. A total of 1,800 athletes competed on behalf of 27 countries in 20 branches of sport, i ...

in 11.75, and the 100 m hurdles in 13.5 seconds. She won the 200-meter race in the

1977 Maccabiah Games At the 10th Maccabiah Games in Israel, more than 2,800 athletes from 34 countries participated in 26 different sports, including chess and bridge. The opening ceremonies were held on July 12, 1977, in Ramat Gan Stadium before a crowd of 50,000 p ...

in 24.03; and the 100-meter hurdles in the same games in 13.50.

Awards and recognition

In 1999, Roth was awarded the

Israel Prize The Israel Prize ( he, פרס ישראל; ''pras israél'') is an award bestowed by the State of Israel, and regarded as the state's highest cultural honor. History The Israel Prize is awarded annually, on Israeli Independence Day, in a state cer ...

for sports. She appears in the 1999 Oscar-winning documentary ''One Day in September'' in which she gave her impressions and feelings during the 1972 Munich Athletes hostages crisis.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Roth-Shachamorov, Esther 1952 births Living people Sportspeople from Tel Aviv Israeli female sprinters Israeli female long jumpers Israeli pentathletes Israeli female hurdlers Jewish female athletes (track and field) Olympic athletes of Israel Athletes (track and field) at the 1972 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1976 Summer Olympics Asian Games medalists in athletics (track and field) Athletes (track and field) at the 1970 Asian Games Athletes (track and field) at the 1974 Asian Games Maccabiah Games gold medalists for Israel Maccabiah Games medalists in athletics Competitors at the 1969 Maccabiah Games Competitors at the 1973 Maccabiah Games Competitors at the 1977 Maccabiah Games Israel Prize in sport recipients Israel Prize women recipients Recipients of the Olympic Order International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame inductees Asian Games gold medalists for Israel Asian Games silver medalists for Israel Medalists at the 1970 Asian Games Medalists at the 1974 Asian Games Israeli Ashkenazi Jews