Nate Ebner of the New England Patriots has qualified for the U.S. Olympic men’s rugby sevens team competing next month at the Rio Olympics, becoming the only NFL player to make a U.S. Olympic team. Ebner, 27, who is Jewish, was included on the 12-man roster released Monday by USA Rugby. Joining Ebner on the…
Nathan and Joshua Katz, two brothers from Australia now headed to the Olympics, are Jews with judo in their blood. Nathan, who is 21, and Joshua, age 18, inherited their love for the Japanese martial art from their parents, both of whom were judo fighters, too. Now they’ve made it to the Olympics. The two…
So far 30 Israeli athletes have guaranteed a spot on the Olympic team for Rio de Janeiro, with the judokas seen as having the best chance to win a medal. The first Israeli to meet the qualifying criteria for this summer’s games was Yakov Toumarkin, who finished seventh in London in 2012 in the 200-meter…
Family members of the victims of the massacre of 11 Israeli Olympians during the 1972 Games in Munich only learned the horrifying details of how they were treated 20 years later. The Israelis — athletes and coaches — were beaten and, in at least one case, castrated during the 20 hours that they were held…
(JTA) — Once the music started playing — not the “Hava Nagila” tune that made her the Jewish poster child of the London Games, but something equally folksy — Aly Raisman tumbled right out of bounds. On her first bit of gymnastics at her comeback World Championships here last month, she had quickly incurred a…
Seven decades after Adolf Hitler sought to stop Jews from competing in the 1936 Olympics in Berlin, more than 2,500 Jewish competitors will take part in the 14th European Maccabi Games from Wednesday at the same Olympic Stadium. Germany, home to the world’s fast-growing Jewish population, is full of pride that the country responsible for…
The International Olympic Committee will erect a place to mourn family and friends at the 2016 Games in Rio, including the 11 Israeli athletes killed by terrorists at the 1972 Munich Olympics. The closing ceremony also will feature a moment of reflection to remember those who have died at the Olympic Games, such as the…
Relaxing after a game at the East York Curling Club in Toronto last winter, Yuval Grinspun made a joke that would change his life. He kibitzed that if he ever wanted to compete in the Olympics, all he needed to do was start an Israeli curling team. “My wife looked at me and said: ‘You…
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