By
Gilah Samuels
1 min read
By
Gilah Samuels
Team Maccabi GB's young athletes have returned from the USA with a staggering 79 medals.
Both boys and girls football teams, dancers, table tennis players,
swimmers and tennis aces were all among the honours.
The 64-strong squad – consisting of Jewish athletes aged from Under 13s to Under 16s from across the UK – and their 15 managers took part in the Games in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
The competition started with a bang. Swimmers Rachel Aytron and Jacob Steinberg won GB's first medals, both bronze, and this inspired the rest of the team to follow suit, with 22 won in total.
Among these were two golds from Lara Hugh and Molly Leizer in the 400-yard freestyle relay, while Rachel Ayton and Emily Press also took gold in the medley relay.
The table tennis stars shone bright as Oliver Adler and Dylan Goldstein won bronze in the U16 team competition and silver in the U16 doubles.
Their team-mates, Nathan Sonn and Joe Kaye won bronze and silver in the U14 team competition and doubles events, respectively, while the entire side won a collective 28 medals – the highest for Team MGB in Florida.
Coming a close second were GB's dancers, who won 25 medals between them. All the team - Talia Engel, Abigail Gershinson, Maya Vandermolen, Millie Burns, Annabel Anisfeld and Hannah Grunwerg – won a number of golds, silvers and-or bronzes each, with
Grunwerg also being awarded a Midot Sportspersonship medal.
The tennis athletes did the
delegation proud in a tough competition, winning three medals. Tom Miller won silver in the singles B competition to a top-ranking Israeli athlete, while
Sammy Novick and Samuel Bass each took home a doubles bronze.
The final squads were the U16 girls and U14 boys football teams. The former had a tough tournament, unable to progress to a medal-position, but drawing plaudits for their teamwork and spirit. The boys' side dominated every match they played en route to the final, winning the gold medal match 8-0 against JCC Philadelphia.
Managers Liam Stein and Liron Mannie were awarded a Midot medal for creating a friendly game involving mixed players from all delegations.
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