| Games of the XV Maccabiah | |
|---|---|
| Opening city | Ramat Gan |
| Nations participating | 53 |
| Athletes participating | 5,500 |
| Events | 34 |
| Stadium | National Stadium |
| Debuting countries | Cuba Kyrgyzstan Malta |
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.[1] Four Australians, 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.[2] To commemorate the tenth anniversary of the disaster, on July 20, 2007, a ceremony was held at Tel Aviv's Hayarkon Park.[1]
Michael Halika of Israel who won the 800m Freestyle and the 400m Individual Medley, among a total of 5 individual and 2 team gold medals.
1992 Olympian Tamara Levinson earned 5 golds in rhythmic gymnastics.
The number in parentheses indicates the number of participants that community contributed.
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