GK Champion, and U.S. Olympic Gold Medalist, Aly Raisman will be performing an exhibition at the 19th Maccabiah Games opening Thursday. As a star of Team USA, she will be leading a parade of over 8,000 athletes from around the world to Israel where they will compete and show their Jewish heritage. Others include swimmer Garrett Weber-Gale, basketball coaches Danny Schayes and Brad Greenberg, and softball coach Erez Borowsky.
There will be more than 1,100 athletes, coaches, and managers competing from the United States in 33 sports, ranging from age 14 to 84. The U.S. Team will be double the size of the 2012 Olympic Team. Youth and Paralympic athletic events are included in over 35 categories. This year’s event will welcome first-time competitors from Cuba, Nicaragua and Mongolia while other nations will only be represented by one or two athletes.
Beginning in 1932, The Games, also called the Jewish Olympics, had 5,000 athletes from 22 countries, including the United States. Yosef Yekutieli, creator of the event, led motorcyclists as they circled throughout Africa and Europe in promotion of the Games. This year, the Games are expected to draw 71 countries and 8,500 athletes. The opening ceremony will be held on July 18, 2013 at Teddy Stadium in Jerusalem. We wish these athletes the best of luck!
In the photo on the left is Aly in our Aly Raisman Cascading Crystal Leo E2333. This asymmetrical neck tank gymnastics leotard features a wrap around striped design in Red, Navy, and Silver Mystique with cascading Clear jeweled accents. GK Champion Alexandra Raisman is the 2012 Floor Exercise Olympic Gold Medalist. Read more about GK's relationship with Alexandra Raisman here.
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GK. Choice of Champions.