Tel Aviv, 17th July – Nearly 9,000 Jewish athletes from 80 countries will participate in the 19th Maccabiah Games, which will take place in Israel from 19th to 30th July.
The Maccabiah Games, the first of which took place in 1932, is a sports event that every four years brings together athletes from Jewish communities around the world, and is recognised by the IOC.
The 2013 Maccabiah Games opening and closing ceremonies will take place at the Teddy Stadium in Jerusalem, attended by 32,000 spectators, including Israel’s President Mr. Shimon Peres and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The Maccabiah Games include four separate competitions: Open, Junior, (age 15-18) Masters (age 35 and more), and, for the 1st time, Paralympics.
Israel 2012 athlete of the Year, swimmer Jacob Toumarkin (who came seventh in the 200 meters at the London 2012 Olympic Games) will be the flag bearer and will lead the 2,500 Israeli athletes at the Opening Ceremony of the Maccabiah Games.
The Israeli delegation at the opening ceremony will march wearing clothes with the message “stay fit stay healthy”, as part of community activities recently launched in the country, along with 150 athletes who took part in the Beijing and London Olympic Games and who will also participate in the 19th Maccabiah Games.
The most prominent athletes are the American gymnast Eli Riesman (two gold medals in London), the Australian athlete Steven Solomon, the Brazilian judoka Felipe Ketidai and the American swimmer Garrett Weber.
At the 18th Maccabiah Games, the Israeli delegation won 312 medals (110 of them gold), while the US delegation won a total of 146 medals (49 of them gold) and the Russian delegation won 37 medals (15 of them gold).