Board sailingBasketballHigh jump

  • Issue: May 1981
  • Designer: M. Pereg
  • Stamp size: 25.7 x 40 mm
  • Plate no.: 14 - 16
  • Sheet of 15 stamps Tabs: 5
  • Printers: Government Printers
  • Method of printing: Photogravure

The 11th Maccabiah took place in Israel between the 6th.and 16th of July 1981.

The Maccabiah Games are the largest Jewish sporting event and are fully recognised and supervised by the International Sports Federation.

The first Maccabiah took place in Israel in 1932 and the second in 1935. After a break of fifteen years caused by the War, the Games recommenced in 1950, since when they have been held regularly every four years in Israel.

The purpose of the Games is to bring together Jewish youth from all corners of the World to take part in a sporting event and demonstrate their identification with Israel and the Jewish people.

In these days of constant attempts to damage Israel on the world sporting scene the Maccabiah serves as a great challenge to Israel sport and world Jewry to demonstrate their sporting prowess, strength and unity.

In the course of the ten days of the 11th Maccabiah, 3,500 sportsmen from 34 countries will participate in 31 branches of sport and for all who participate in the games, either actively or as spectators, it will be an unforgettable experience and a lifelong memory.

This series of 11th Maccabiah stamps depicts three popular branches of sport:

Basketball was invented in 1891 by the American Dr. James Naismith, a member of the YMCA which was instrumental in introducing the game all over the world. Israeli basketball has been most successful on the international scene in recent years. Maccabi Tel Aviv won the European Cup for national champions in 1977, while the Israel national team came second in the 1979 European championship, ahead of such famous teams as Yugoslavia, Italy etc.

High Jump - Fosburry style - this style of high jumping was patented by the American, Richard Fosburry and it earned him a gold medal in the 1968 Olympic Games in Mexico. The world records in this style are currently held by the following sportsmen: Women - Sarah Simeoni of Italy who cleared 2.01 m in 1978 and also gained a gold medal at the Moscow Olympics. Men - Gerd Wessig of East Germany who took first place in the 1980 Moscow Olympics and set up a world record of 2.36m. In Israel this branch of sport has made significant strides in recent years and the Israeli team led by Gideon Harmat, who holds the national record with a jump of 2.14m has steadily improved its performance.

Board Sailing, the very latest of aquatic sports was invented in 1967 by Hoyle Schweitzer of Los Angeles. This sport has gained enormous popularity due to the ease of handling the craft, inexpensiveness and the challenge it offers to its practitioners, and this has led to its inclusion in the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics.

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11th Maccabiah 1981