1997 Maccabiah Games
Encyclopedia
The 1997 Maccabiah Games are remembered for being marred by a bridge collapse that killed several participants
.
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. Four Australia
ns, 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 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. 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 medal
s.
1992 Olympian Tamara Levinson earned 5 golds in rhythmic gymnastics
.
Maccabiah bridge collapse
The Maccabiah bridge collapse was the catastrophic failure of a pedestrian bridge over the Yarkon River in Tel Aviv, Israel on July 14, 1997. The collapse of the temporary wooden structure killed four and injured 60 Australian athletes who were visiting Israel to participate in the Maccabiah Games...
.
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
Taekwondo
Taekwondo is a Korean martial art and the national sport of South Korea. In Korean, tae means "to strike or break with foot"; kwon means "to strike or break with fist"; and do means "way", "method", or "path"...
.
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
Opening ceremony
An opening ceremony is the official opening of a building or event. The opening ceremonies of the Olympic Games and the FIFA World Cup are huge events involving thousands of participants and watched by a massive worldwide audience. On a much smaller scale, some ceremonies mark the opening of a...
to fall into the highly-polluted Yarkon River; the polluted waters were considered a major factor in the deaths and injuries. Four Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
ns, 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 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. To commemorate the tenth anniversary of the disaster, on July 20, 2007, a ceremony was held at Tel Aviv's Hayarkon Park.
Michael Halika
Michael Halika
Michael Halika is a former medley swimmer from Israel, who competed in three events at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia as a member of the Israeli swimming team....
of Israel who won the 800m Freestyle and the 400m Individual Medley, among a total of 5 individual and 2 team gold medal
Gold medal
A gold medal is typically the 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...
s.
1992 Olympian Tamara Levinson earned 5 golds in rhythmic gymnastics
Rhythmic gymnastics
Rhythmic gymnastics is a sport in which individuals or teams of competitors manipulate one or two pieces of apparatus: rope, clubs, hoop, ball, ribbon and Free . An individual athlete only manipulates 1 apparatus at a time...
.
Participating Communities
The number in parentheses indicates the number of participants that community contributed.| (400) |