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On 5th July 1993, the 14th Maccabiah Games, the largest Maccabiah ever, will commence. Over 5000 sportsmen and women from some 50 countries will take part in this major sporting event.
For everyone, there will be moments of great excitement, emotional reunions, new sports records, cultural happenings, educational programs and tours.
This Maccabiah, like all the Maccabiahs to date, will be a further bridge between Jews of the Diaspora and Israel.
The Relay Race
A relay race is a team competition. The members of each team run consecutively and the result is decided by which of the last set of runners reaches the tape first.
On completing the circuit, the runner passes his relay baton on to the next team member: the baton is 30 cm long and 12 cm in diameter; the length of the changeover track is 20 meters. Coordination between the runner passing the baton and the runner receiving it is of prime importance, the runners trying to relay it without slowing the pace of their running.
The relay race is an established Olympic event. In 1908, the first men's Olympic relay race took place in London (the winning team was from the USA), and in 1912 the first women's Olympic relay race took place in Stockholm (the winning team was from Britain).
In the Maccabiah Games relay races have taken place since the Games began (1932). In the first Maccabiah the German team won the 4x100 relay race. In the second Maccabiah (1935) the 4x400 relay took place for the first time and was won by the Austrian team.
