A Jewish Festival of Sport
Thirty-thousand spectators filled Teddy Stadium in Jerusalem to welcome over 9,000 Jewish athletes who came from every corner of the world, including Israel, to participate in the 19th Maccabiah Games. The games are held every four years. The opening ceremonies were attended by President Shimon Peres, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, and several government ministers.
The organizers had also managed to arrange and screen warm video messages from President Obama and UK Prime Minister David Cameron. The US delegation, with over 1,200 delegates, was by far the biggest overseas delegation. The Israel delegation numbered nearly 3,000 participants. At the other end of the scale were Albania, Croatia, Curacao, Bahamas, Luxembourg, Mongolia, Scotland, and Poland—each with only one competitor.
This year, the games introduced, for the first time at a Maccabiah, paralympic events such as wheelchair tennis, cycling, basketball, and swimming.
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