Asi Maman
The Maccabiah Ceremony (Itzik Belnitsky)
The 21st Maccabiah is on its way. At this time, the opening ceremony of one of the largest sporting events in the world is taking place at Teddy Stadium, with the participation of about 10,000 athletes from 59 countries who will compete in dozens of sports. The event will be attended by President Yitzhak Herzog, US President Joe Biden and Prime Minister Yair Lapid.
Linoy Ashram and Artium Dolgofyat will light the torch at the opening event, in front of 30,000 spectators at Teddy Stadium in Jerusalem. Even before he reaches the two new Olympic champions from Tokyo 2020, the torch will be carried before lighting five male and female athletes: Taekwondo Olympic medalist Avishag Samberg, swimmer Anastasia Gurbanko, Paralympic swimmers Mark Mellier and Iyad Shlebi, and Judy Kamerik Habis was actor.
In addition, there will be several representatives from various social organizations who will hold the Israeli flag and enter it with Teddy Stadium: a representative of Special Olympics Association Ayalon Ozeri, representatives of the Special Games Association Reuven and Or, a representative of Alut Leah Letnik and a representative of Pethon Lev Yossi Jrofi. The bearers of the Maccabiah flag are Alex Averbuch, Andy Ram, Zohar Zimro, Anna Samshenova, Polina Malik, Tamara Landau, Alex Myakinin and Victoria Gelfland.
This year, five new sports are joining Maccabiah: surfing, climbing, 3X3 motocross basketball and paddle. In addition, the Maccabiah weightlifting competition returns after an absence of 33 years. Australia was the first country to open the diverse and colorful delegation parade, and immediately after that Ukraine entered and thrilled the lightest in the stadium.
During the ceremony, memorial events will be held to mark the 50th anniversary of the 11th Holocaust in Munich and the 25th anniversary of the Maccabiah Bridge disaster. Singer Eden Ben Zaken will perform a renewal of the song “Thou shalt not beat me” accompanied by 100 dancers. In addition, the singer Hanan Ben Ari will perform, as well as the duo Static and Ben El who will perform the official Maccabiah song “Carnival”.
The event takes place under heavy security around Teddy Stadium and throughout the capital with thousands of police and border guards. The police deployment in Jerusalem under the command of the district commander, Superintendent Doron Turgeman, focuses on Teddy’s opening ceremony, in parallel with the US President’s visit to the city. Traffic arteries in the area of the stadium were blocked and for the benefit of the spectators there are shuttles to nearby parking lots.
The Israel Police said: “The police call on the city’s residents and visitors to be patient due to the expected changes in traffic arrangements during the events, to avoid reaching these areas during competitions unnecessarily and to use public transportation or alternative routes.”
