A much-reduced delegation of GB athletes have returned from the 2026 Maccabiah Games with a small collection of medals – one of each colour, all in tennis events.
Sarah Schechter won gold in the Masters women’s doubles in the 65+ age category, alongside Israeli partner Viola Buskila Lubick, and added a bronze in the singles in the same age group.
Meanwhile, Samantha Cohen took home silver in the Masters women’s singles 40+ competition to complete the set.
The relatively sparse return of medals tallies with the size of the British delegation, which was far smaller than originally intended, owing to logistical and security concerns.
While 372 athletes were picked for the GB group, only 14 made the trip in the end: ten tennis players, two Maccabi Man (an elite multi-sport endurance challenge) competitors, one chess player, and one pickleball player.
Several prospective competitors who did not attend also cited the high financial cost and the fact they would have to take at least two weeks off work.
Father-and-son tennis duo Danny Caro (right) and Jacob Caro (left) with Israeli former professional tennis player Jonathan Erlich (photo: Alex Mandel)[Missing Credit]
However, Cohen told the JC that the small group made her sixth Games “a very special and unique experience”.
“We were like a family, and everyone got to know everyone,” she said. “It was really intimate and meaningful.”
Double medallist Schechter concurred that it was a “meaningful experience”, adding that “it's always so hugely emotionally charged just being in Israel in the first place”, especially since it was the first time she had been there since 2022, pre-October 7.
“It was amazing just be able to stand with Israel,” she said, “and to show our friendship.”
Schechter’s journey to the gold medal has been long and winding. She began playing tennis as an 11-year-old at North London Collegiate School – coincidentally the same school which Cohen attended – but stopped playing when she got married and had children, as “there was no time or money for that kind of thing”.
“I went back to it when my youngest [child] was about 15 and had to replace my wooden racket,” she added.
The 69-year-old – who is fundraising for Magen David Adom and the Arthur Rank Hospice as part of her journey – made her first Maccabiah appearance in 2017, which she had “always wanted to do since I was a teenager”.
“I said to my husband that I've just got to get it out of my system, I just need to go once,” she went on. “I went, and when I came back, I said, ‘I'm really sorry, I just want to carry on doing this until I'm too old’.”
Schechter with her pair of medals (photo: Alex Mandel)[Missing Credit]
Shortly after her second Games in 2022, she had an accident that threatened to curtail her revived passion.
“I was at my grandson Jonah's bar mitzvah up in Glasgow, and going through from the shul to the kiddush, I slipped on some wet tiles and went flying into a glass wall, and dislocated my shoulder,” she recounted.
“When it didn't get better after about six weeks, I went for an MRI scan and it turned out I tore all my rotator cuff muscles, at which point they told me I probably wouldn't play tennis again.”
After a recovery period spanning several years and also featuring a broken finger and a broken rib, simply playing at this summer’s Games – let alone bringing home two medals – was a monumental feat.
After a poor performance in the initial round robin in the singles – “I think I was feeling too happy to actually be there and didn’t have enough killer spirit” – she was filtered into the plate competition, in which she triumphed to take bronze.
“It was partly the heat which didn't help, and it just took me a while to really get into it,” Schechter said. “Then when I went into the plate, I somehow got into my stride and played my best. One of the people I beat [in the plate] had beaten me in the first round robin.”
Meanwhile, her success in the doubles competition was rather serendipitous.
“My partner [Viola Buskila Lubick] actually found the hotel where we were staying – my roommate had given her my number – and she asked if I would like to play in the doubles [with her].
“It was great. She was lovely to play with, and we had a great time; we really clicked. Our first match, which was actually the most difficult, and we pulled it off and won.”
“There’s no one more surprised than me,” she joked about her pair of medals.
Cohen, GB’s other medallist this summer, overcame four competitors before her loss in the final and told the JC of her pride as she took silver in a fiercely contested bracket in the 40+ women’s singles.
“It was amazing,” she said. “I feel wonderful. It was a very special thing and I was really honoured to have the opportunity to do that and represent Maccabi GB.”
Cohen with her silver medal (photo: Alex Mandel)[Missing Credit]
A frequent medallist at regional Maccabiah events, including the European Maccabi Games and Pan American Maccabi Games, this summer was the first time she had won a medal on the world stage in Israel.
They were her sixth Games, as she made her debut in 2001 and has only missed one tournament since then. “And I hope I don’t miss any more,” Cohen added.
Like her compatriot Schechter, she was moved by the feeling of being back in Israel with a united team after a tough few years in both Israel and among the diaspora.
“After everything that everyone has been through in Israel, the amount of people from there who were so effusively grateful and appreciative and excited that we had come was very humbling,” she said.
The 42-year-old grew up in Mill Hill but has since moved across the pond, where she works as the senior vice president of JCC Maccabi.
She has long been an integral cog in the global Maccabi ecosystem and commended its immense value for uniting Jews around the world on the basis of their shared faith; “it is one of the greatest Jewish people building projects of our time”.
About the delegation, she added that they were “small but mighty”, though “you couldn’t tell we were small, as everyone showed up to cheer each other on”.
The unity of the squad was echoed by general team manager Andrew Myers, who said that the entire squad represented Great Britain “with dignity, resilience, sportsmanship, and genuine support for one another”.
Andrew Myers (right) (photo: Alex Mandel)[Missing Credit]
The delegation met October 7 survivors and paid a visit to former hostage Keith Siegel, which Myers said was “incredibly emotional”.
About the two medallists, he commented: “We were absolutely delighted for Sarah and Sam. They both played outstanding tennis throughout the Games, showed tremendous composure under pressure and thoroughly deserved their success.
“Their medals were the reward for a huge amount of hard work and commitment over many years, and everyone in the delegation was incredibly proud to see them on the podium.”
The Maccabiah Games, often dubbed the ‘Jewish Olympics’, brings together Jewish athletes worldwide for sporting competition in more than 30 events.
This year’s edition – delayed by a year due to Israel’s war with Iran – featured nearly 10,000 athletes from around 70 countries.
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