Hungary: 40 medals at the Maccabi Games
Hungarian athletes won forty medals, including six golds, at the “Jewish Olympics”, the 21st Maccabi Games that ended on Sunday.
At the Hungarian embassy in Tel Aviv, the team was welcomed in a warm atmosphere, during which their successes in various sports were listed at length. Ambassador Benkő Levente greeted the athletes first and congratulated them on their results. He said that the history and present of Hungarian sports are inseparable from Jewish athletes, and that Hungary sent one of the largest teams in terms of population to this year’s games. He emphasized that he was proud of their success.
Ádám Jusztin, the president of Maccabi VAC, which organized the Hungarian participation, emphasized in his summary speech that all members of the team stood their ground, and then welcomed the medalists, the competitors who won six gold, 11 silver and 23 bronze.
Hungarian Jewish athletes competed in the sports in which Hungarian sports excel: water polo, swimming and fencing.
“We have prestige, we are watched, we stand out from the European field!” Ádám Jusztin summed up the Hungarian performance.
He pointed out that many uncertainties made the preparation difficult, because of the coronavirus epidemic, the game was held after five years instead of four, and even so, the virus situation changed daily. the contestants are also worried about the Russian-Ukrainian war. There was no official Russian delegation, but the new Russian immigrants were included in the Olim, the immigrant team, and were also given places in the international European teams.
“Here there was no dispute between the Ukrainian and Russian athletes, in fact!” Justin said. “There were also Russian-Ukrainian mixed pairs, they took part in the competitions hand in hand,” he recalled. “The Olympic village, the sports museum of Kfar Makabbi, has been renovated, in which Hungarian Jewish athletes played a significant role. Judit Polgár’s chessboard, Ilona Elek’s dagger and other relics were exhibited,” Justztin said, indicating that the past merits of Hungarian Jewish athletes were not forgotten in Israel either.
Various fair play awards were given to Judit Molnár, who became infected with the coronavirus and was unable to compete, even though she had been preparing for this competition for a long time. The best coach was Miklós Marnicz, the best team leader was Mester Tamás, and the best athlete was Vivien Várnai, who won the first gold.
Duel watcher Vivien Várnai told the MTI correspondent that she was forced to retire from elite sports due to her injuries, and at that time she began to deal with many things, including her family’s Jewish roots. As a result, he found the Maccabi movement of Jewish athletes and Ádám Justín.
“I started preparing to compete in the fall in order to get to the Maccabi Games. I had three surgeries before, so I was in a knee brace until April. But the preparation went so well that I haven’t worn it since. That’s why this was particularly important to me,” he emphasized.
Péter Szántó also received a special award, and Ferenc Ney, the oldest member of the team, who, as a retired masseuse, did everything for the success of the athletes, received a special thank you and a flag signed by everyone.
Ney said that he only heard about the Maccabi Games in 2019, which he happily joined. He lives in Győr and takes part in the local Jewish religious life on major holidays. (MTI, Zsuzsa Shiri)