Shem-Tov Sabag (שם טוב סבג; nicknamed "Shemi";
born April 13, 1959) is an Israeli former Olympic
marathoner.
He won both the 1984 Lake County Marathon and the 1989
Vancouver Marathon
The BMO Vancouver Marathon is an annual race held on the first Sunday of May each year in Vancouver, British Columbia. As the second largest international marathon in Canada, it has a certified running distance of 26 miles and 385 yards long. The ...
.
Early life
Sabag was born in Israel, his hometown is
Haifa
Haifa ( he, חֵיפָה ' ; ar, حَيْفَا ') is the third-largest city in Israel—after Jerusalem and Tel Aviv—with a population of in . The city of Haifa forms part of the Haifa metropolitan area, the third-most populous metropol ...
and he later lived in
Tiberias
Tiberias ( ; he, טְבֶרְיָה, ; ar, طبريا, Ṭabariyyā) is an Israeli city on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee. A major Jewish center during Late Antiquity, it has been considered since the 16th century one of Judaism's F ...
, and he is Jewish.
He started running marathons at age 17, at the urging of a high school coach, but lost three years of training as he served with a tank unit in the
Israel Defense Forces.
Education
He studied as a pre-med student at
Augustana College in
Rock Island, Illinois.
There, he was an
All-American in
cross-country.
In November 1983, he came in 8th in the
NCAA Men's Division III Cross Country Championship
The NCAA Men's Division III Cross Country Championship is an annual cross country meet to decide the team and individual national champions of men's NCAA Division III intercollegiate cross country running in the United States. It has been held ev ...
, and in May 1984 he came in 2nd in the 10,000 meters and 6th in the 5,000 meters.
Running career
His personal best time in the marathon was 2-18:23, which he ran in June 1984 in
Duluth
, settlement_type = City
, nicknames = Twin Ports (with Superior), Zenith City
, motto =
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top: urban Duluth skyline; Minnesota ...
, Minnesota.
His personal best in the half-marathon was 1-06:13, which he ran in
Philadelphia
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...
, Pennsylvania, in September 1986.
In April 1984 he won his first marathon in his eighth race at that distance, in Chicago, Illinois, in the Lake County Marathon in 2-21:47.
He competed for
Israel at the 1984 Summer Olympics
Israel competed at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, United States. The nation returned to the Summer Games after participating in the American-led boycott of the 1980 Summer Olympics. 32 competitors, 24 men and 8 women, took part in 46 ...
in Los Angeles, California, at the age of 25.
Running in the
Men's Marathon he came in 60th out of 107 competitors, with a time of 2-31:34.
When he competed in the Olympics, Sabag was 5-6 (168 cm) tall and weighed 139 lbs (63 kg).
Sabag won the
Vancouver Marathon
The BMO Vancouver Marathon is an annual race held on the first Sunday of May each year in Vancouver, British Columbia. As the second largest international marathon in Canada, it has a certified running distance of 26 miles and 385 yards long. The ...
in May 1989 with a time of 2-19:41 .
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sabag, Shem-Tov
Living people
People from Tiberias
Israeli male long-distance runners
Olympic athletes of Israel
Athletes (track and field) at the 1984 Summer Olympics
1959 births
Sportspeople from Haifa
Israeli male marathon runners
Augustana College (Illinois) alumni
Israeli male cross country runners