May 7
Precious Medals:
Jewish American Olympians
From the Paris Olympics in Summer 1900 to the Pyeongchang games in Winter 2018,
78 American Jews have earned
138 Olympic medals across many athletic arenas. In total, they have received 42 bronze medals, 37 silver medals, and 59 gold medals. American Jews have medaled in 26 different Olympic sports. The most medals achieved in a single sport by American Jewish athletes are swimming, with twelve medals, and track and field, with eleven medals.
Myer Prinstein was the first American Jew to win an Olympic medal, earning three gold medals and a silver as a track runner.
Making a Splash
As the most successful sport for American Jewish Olympians, there are many notable Olympic swimmers.
Mark Spitz competed in the
Munich 1972 games and faced anti-semitism when he won gold. In total Spitz has earned nine gold medals, one silver, and one bronze.
Dara Torres, winner of four gold, four silver, and four bronze medals, is the first American swimmer to compete in five Olympics, the oldest swimmer to earn a place on the United States Olympic team, and a former world record-holder in three events.
Jason Lezak is the first male swimmer in Olympic history to win four medals in the same event, the 4 by 100 meter freestyle relay. He holds a total of four gold, two silver, and two bronze Olympic medals.
Anthony Ervin, who has five gold and one silver, is the first U.S. citizen of African descent to earn a gold medal in an individual Olympic swimming event, as well as the oldest individual Olympic swimming gold medal winner.
Bending over Backwards for Excellence
Another sport with notable American Jewish athletes is gymnastics. In 1984,
Mitch Gaylord helped win the second of two men’s gymnastics team gold medals for the United States. Gaylord was named by President Reagan as a member of the President’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sportsand also holds one silver and two bronze Olympic medals.
Kerri Strug, a 1996 Olympian, is known for clinching the gold medal for her team by competing vault on a broken ankle, in addition to winning team bronze four years earlier at the age of fourteen.
Alexandra “Aly” Raisman was the captain of 2012 and 2016 Olympic teams. In the 2012 Olympics, she performed her floor routine to Hava Nagila as a dedication to the eleven Israeli Olympians killed at the 1972 Munich games. Raisman is the second most decorated American Olympic gymnast in history with three gold, two silver, and one bronze Olympic medal in addition to many other awards. She has been pivotal in the case against the abuser, USA Gymnastics, and the USOC pertaining to sexual abuse faced by Raisman and many other gymnasts, and earned the
Arthur Ashe Courage Award along with her fellow survivors.
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