For the first time, boxing competitions were not held because of insufficient interest.
By ARIEL ZIRULNICKmaccabiah 248.88(photo credit: Courtesy)
The 12th Maccabiah featured the first-ever Junior Maccabiah alongside a massive 3,700 athletes from 37 countries in the standard Maccabiah.
For the first time, boxing competitions were not held because of insufficient interest. To get athletes from event to event, 1,800 buses and 450 minubuses were needed.
Israelis won 54 of the 117 medals awarded and an unprecedented number of records were broken across the delegations.
The Games took Israeli and Jewish minds off of troubles in Israel, mainly the war in Lebanon and serious inflation.
Deapite the difficult situation in the country, the Jewish Agency made a huge effort to persuade athletes to make aliyah and representatives from various industries scouted the athletes for jobs.
There were competitions for Maccabiah veterans in several sports and all the athletic competitions and championships hosted by Israeli schools commemorated "the Year of the Maccabiah."
Athletes planted 3,000 trees in the Maccabi forest in Modi'in and Israel's postal service created a series of commemorative stamps for collectors.
The 12th Maccabiah ended with a grand closing ceremony that featured a helicopter carrying the Maccabiah mascot "Guri the Lion Cub," intricate performances by athletes and a fireworks show.
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