Double delight for Jewish athletes at Commonwealth Games
JEMIMA Montag created Australian Jewish sporting history on Sunday morning when she won the 20km race walk at the Commonwealth Games.
JEMIMA Montag created Australian Jewish sporting history on Sunday morning when she won the 20km race walk at the Commonwealth Games.
The 20-year-old broke the tape with a time of 1:32.50 to become the first ever member of the community to win a Commonwealth Games gold medal.
The Victorian athlete pipped Sydney swimmer Matt Levy for the historic honour by just a few hours.
On Monday night, Levy, who counts gold at the London 2012 Paralympics and bronze in Rio in 2016 among his international medal collection, continued Australia’s gold rush, winning the men’s S7 50m freestyle final.
Speaking to The AJN, Montag said, “As an athlete, being able to stand on the podium and see your flag raised and national anthem played is definitely the ultimate.”
Hailing Montag as the first member of the Victorian Maccabi Athletics Club to represent Australia at the Games, club president Len Bogatin said, “What an amazing effort.
“Congratulations to Jemima – of course – and all her family and support team who have worked so hard for this moment.”
Praising Levy, Maccabi NSW president Lauren Ehrlich told The AJN, “Maccabi NSW and Maccabi Australia are very proud of Matthew’s achievements.
“He was named Athlete of the 2017 Maccabiah Games in Israel, having broken a world record there, and he is an incredible ambassador for Maccabi and for Australian swimming.
“We are just so thrilled for him and that all the hard work and effort he puts into everything he does has led to this amazing result in the Gold Coast.”
AARON FETTER
Full coverage in this week’s AJN
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