Nations participating 27 Athletes participating 1450 Officially opened by Deborah Turner | Debuting countries Republic of the Congo Opening city Ramat Gan, Israel Main venue Ramat Gan Stadium | |
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At the 8th Maccabiah Games in 1969, 1,450 athletes from 27 countries competed in 22 sports.
Germany and Greece sent teams for the first time since the 1935 Games.
A new swimming pool was dedicated at Yad Eliyahu.
American swimmer Mark Spitz won 6 gold medals.
Tal Brody, having moved from the U.S. to Israel, captained the Israeli basketball team to a gold medal over the United States.
Israeli Olympian Shaul Ladany won gold medals in the 3-km walk (13.35.4), the 10-km walk, and the 50-km walk.
Esther Roth of Israel won the long jump with a 19-foot, 3/4 inch (5.81 meter) jump.
David Berger, an American, won a gold medal in the middleweight weight-lifting contest. He later represented Israel in the 1972 Summer Olympics, but was one of the 11 Israeli sportsmen killed by Arab terrorists in the Munich Massacre.
In tennis, Julie Heldman, who was ranked # 2 in the US, won the Women's Singles, the Women's Doubles with Marilyn Aschner, and the Mixed Doubles with Ed Rubinoff.
In golf, Bruce Fleisher of the US won a gold medal.
Participating Communities
The number in parentheses indicates the number of participants that community contributed.