Israel’s only Class A wrestling referee, Yossef Gutfreund, actually wanted to become a veterinarian. Born in Romania in 1931, Gutfreund studied in medical school until he was imprisoned for distributing Zionist propaganda. The athlete left Romania at the age of 17, traveling to Israel and serving in both the 1956 Sinai War and 1967 Six-Day War. Wounded while on tour in Gaza, he refused to be evacuated until the cease-fire was reached. He also tended the burns of a group of Egyptian soldiers abandoned by …More

Fencing coach Andre Spitzer believed in the Olympic ideal. The 27-year-old would stroll through the Olympic Village and regularly chat with natives from countries at odds with Israel, insisting that this was the one place where he and his Arab competitors could interact outside of the political conflict. His wife, Ankie Spitzer, remembers Andre shaking hands with the Lebanese team after inquiring after their events results during the Munich Games. “The idea of the Olympics is first to forget that you are …More

Born in Romania, Kehat Shorr devoted himself to shooting and became an expert marksman at an early age. In June of 1941, Romania joined the invasion of the former Soviet Union alongside Nazi Germany. Shorr, marked for internment because of his Jewish heritage, hid in the Carpathian Mountains with fellow partisans who raided the cities to rescue other trapped Jews. He moved to Tel Aviv suburb Neve Sharrett in 1963 with his wife and daughter. At the age of 53, he was a civil servant in Israel’s Defense …More

The head coach for the Israeli track and field team, Amitzur Shapira began his sports career as a short distance runner and long jumper in the 1950s. Born in 1932 in Tel Aviv, Shapira became an instructor at the Orde Wingate Institute, Israel’s national center for physical education, in Netanya. He moved to Herzilya with his wife and four children. By 1972, the 40-year-old had trained 10 of Israel’s best athletes. He discovered Olympian Esther Shahamorov-Roth when she was only 14, and she became his …More