19 July 1952 – 26 Tammuz 5712
The 15th Olympic Games opened in Helsinki, ending sixteen days later on August 3 (12 Av). 4,995 athletes competed from 68 countries, watched by 1.4 million people world-wide. The United States led the events with 76 medals, forty of them gold, but Hungary surprised everyone with its 42 medallion-winning competitors. Competing for the first time, the United Soviet Republic made an enormous impact, carrying off no less that 71 medals.
Another state competing for the first time that year was Israel, with a much more modest team. Its accomplishments couldn’t be said to come anywhere near those of the USSR; fully half of the 26 Israeli athletes were on the national basket-ball team. Sport had yet to become a professional field in Israel. Most of its Olympic delegation worked for a living, training only in their spare time. It showed – the basket-ball team lost twice and was knocked out of the competition, hardly any of the athletes made even the top twenty in their events, and the high point was Yoav Ra’anan’s achievement when he came ninth in the diving competition.
No one was expecting all that much in those days, and the newspapers were satisfied to report that Israel was honorably represented. There were many, though, who felt otherwise, and as a result a government commission of inquiry was set up to decide whether Israel’s performance should be deemed a success or a failure. Its in-depth report found that considering the circumstances, the Olympic team’s achievements were more than adequate. Israeli sporting enthusiasts were hopeful that with improved training conditions and greater professionalism, an Olympic medal would soon be within Israel’s grasp. They were to be profoundly disappointed: it would be another forty years before Judokas Yael Arad and Oren Smadja brought back silver and bronze medals from the Barcelona Olympics in 1992.
Israel’s been competing in the Paralympic Games from the outset though, with a much higher degree of success. Since 1960, disabled Israeli athletes have brought home nearly 400 medals.
Photo: Fritz Cohen, Israel Government Press OfficeMembers of Israel’s Olympic team before leaving for Helsinki