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Israeli sporting history, collected.

The newest feature leads the homepage, while every previous edition remains here as part of a growing daily history of Israeli sport.

7 stories
Barcelona Olympic Medalist Yael Arad gives out her autograph to fans. זוכת המדליה האולימפית יעל ארד חותמת למעריצים. Photo: KOREN ZIV, 10/08/1992
From the Archiveexplainer

Barcelona, 30 July 1992: The Silver That Ended the Wait

On Israel's tenth trip to an Olympic Games, a 25-year-old judoka from Tel Aviv finally brought a medal home — and dedicated it to the eleven who never made it back from Munich.

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Israel's first Olympic team before departing for the 1952 Helsinki Games
From the Archiveexplainer

Helsinki, 19 July 1952: the day Israel walked into the Olympic movement

Seventy-four years ago today, a 25-strong delegation marched behind the blue-and-white flag at the Helsinki Olympic Stadium. Israel's first Olympic Games won no medals — but the debut itself was a quiet act of international recognition for a four-year-old state.

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Esther Roth-Shahamorov at an athletics evening in July 2013
From the Archiveexplainer

Fifty years on: Montreal 1976, the black ribbon and Israel's first Olympic finalist

The Games that opened on 17 July 1976 asked Israel's athletes simply to show up four years after Munich. Esther Roth-Shahamorov answered by racing into an Olympic final — and resetting what Israeli sport thought it was for.

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Yam Madar playing for Israel's youth national team in April 2018
From the Archiveexplainer

2018–19: the two summers that changed Israeli youth basketball

Israel's first FIBA title in Chemnitz was followed by a home defence in Tel Aviv, turning a breakthrough generation into the benchmark for every U20 team that followed.

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The pitch and stands inside Teddy Stadium in Jerusalem
From the Archiveexplainer

July 16, 2001: the Maccabiah that opened against the odds

Security fears, a reduced field and the memory of the 1997 bridge disaster shadowed the 16th Maccabiah, yet more than 2,000 athletes still marched into Teddy Stadium.

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Israel’s national football team line up at Bloomfield Stadium in January 1970
From the Archiveexplainer

Mexico, 1970: the goal that put Israel on the World Cup map

Three minutes after Sweden took the lead in Toluca, Mordechai Spiegler answered from distance and created a moment that still stands alone in Israeli football history.

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The interior of the Parc des Princes in Paris, venue of Israel’s 3–2 win over France in 1993
From the Archiveexplainer

Paris, 1993: the night Israel turned 2–1 into history

France were preparing to celebrate World Cup qualification. Israel, bottom of the group and without a competitive win, scored twice in the final eleven minutes to leave the Parc des Princes in disbelief.

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