Nineteen Fast Facts About the 19th Maccabiah Games

The 19th Maccabiah Games are coming up! 

Here are nineteen facts about the Maccabiah Games:

1) They Maccabiah Games are often called the Jewish Olympics

2) The Maccabiah Games were named after Judah Maccabee, a Jewish warrior

3) The first Maccabiah Games were held in 1932

4) The Maccabiah Games are held every four years, the year after the Olympic Games

5) There were 400 participants in the first Maccabiah Games. This year there will be about 9,000    participants 

6) The Maccabiah Games are the third largest sporting event in the world

7) Jewish athletes from all over the world are eligible to participate, as well as non-Jewish citizens of Israel 

8) There will be athletes representing 71 different countries this year

9) There are four different categories within the games, Open, Juniors, Masters and Paralympic 

10) Many Olympians have also competed in the Maccabiah Games, such as gymnast Kerri Strug 

11) Fifteen year old Yosef Yekutieli came up with the idea for the Maccabiah Games

12) This years Maccabiah Games will have more athletes competing than the Sydney Olympic Games

13) A chess tournament has been included in the Maccabiah Games for approximately the past 30 years

14) About 20,000 tourists are expected to visit for the Maccabiah Games this year

15) There are almost 40 different sports within the Maccabiah Games

16) The 2013 Maccabiah Games run from the 17th-30th of July

17) The opening ceremony will be on July 18th

18) JLTV will have a live stream of the Maccabiah Games. Info here: http://jltv.tv/shows.php?id=59

19) The Games slogan is: Higher! Faster! Stronger! 

*For more information you can visit the Maccabiah Games website here: http://www.maccabiah.com

I hope you learned a little bit about the upcoming Maccabiah Games. Reports say that Aly Raisman will be doing a special gymnastics exhibition sometime during the games. I will keep people updated with all of the latest news. Make sure that you're following my twitter: @Aly_RaismanFans

Let me know if you have any ideas for future blog posts! 

Sources: http://www.maccabiah.com, http://www.jewishsports.net/the_maccabiah_games.htm, http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/History/Maccabiah.html, http://www.jpost.com/National-News/Jlem-to-host-largest-ever-Maccabiah-Games-this-year-319061