London calling

Seems we just finished with the last Olympics and now we’re getting ready for the next games. Here’s a piece from the London Jewish Chronicle.

Are the Maccabi stars of today the Olympians of tomorrow? Unfortunately, it seems not to be the case.

Speaking locally,

There is a consensus amongst long-time observers of the sport that Jews are not participating in athletics at senior level to the extent that they did in the past. The golden era of Jewish athletics was probably the 1960s, when there were several Jewish senior internationals, including Olympic bronze medalist Dave Segal and the first Jewish sub-four-minute miler, Ray Roseman.

Moving into the 1980s, James Espir was a senior international middle-distance runner and his training companions Daniel Felsenstein and Jeff Kaye were virtually of international standard.

Today, there are two known Jewish internationals, Ankier and 400m runner Phil Taylor, whilst distance runners Nathaniel Lane and David Peters and pole vaulter James Grant have reached high standards in club and county athletics. However, it is inescapable that there are far fewer senior Jewish athletes competing now than in the past. A sign of the times is that, due to dwindling participation, the Maccabi National Championships are no longer held.

For many, real life intrudes on athletic dreams. “In England, most young athletes stop competing once they leave school because the demands of training are too great and they have other priorities such as building a career, ” according to Jo Ankier, a track star who specializes in the steeplechase.

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Kaplan’s Korner on Jews and Sports © 2009 New Jersey Jewish News

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