Sports

With two days to go before they board planes that will take them to the 20th Maccabiah Games in Israel, three young athletes with strong ties to the Valley are brimming with anticipation.

In baseball, they say time begins on Opening Day. Everyone has a chance for a fresh start. Most of the old familiar names are back, although some have new addresses. If you count Detroit Tigers manager Brad Ausmus, there are nine Jews who begin the year on Major League rosters. But then there’s the question of what to do about Ty Kelly of the New York Mets: Is he or isn’t he? That’s still a matter of debate among those who decide on such matters.

At least seven Jewish community centers in the United States and Canada received bomb threats while they were hosting Purim events.

TEL AVIV  – Noah Roth likes to recall two moments from Israeli marathons in which he’s raced: a competitor in Jerusalem breezing by him in 2010 wearing all-black, haredi Orthodox garb but for a white athletic shirt; and a Russian woman on this city’s Allenby Street who last year handed sprinters cups of clear-liquid refreshment – not water, but vodka.

Team Israel will play in the World Baseball Classic for the first time ever, and last weekend, before heading to games in Seoul, South Korea, the team held a mini-camp in Scottsdale.

Registration is underway for the third season of the Jewish Youth Group Sports League (The League), for members of BBYO, NCSY, NFTY and USY. The seven-week basketball season, plus one week of playoffs/championship game), runs Feb. 12-May 7 (no games during spring breaks or Passover).

After a recent move to Arizona, Rabbi Leib Bolel will be toeing the starting line at Ironman Arizona on Nov. 20. The Ironman is a triathlon race totaling 140.6 miles consisting of a 2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bike ride and culminating in a marathon, 26.2-mile run, all within a 17-hour window.

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KARNEI SHOMRON, West Bank  -- The Chicago Cubs are facing the Cleveland Indians in a historic World Series, and most of Israel could not care less. This Jewish settlement is different.

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JERUSALEM — The coach of Israel’s rhythmic gymnastics team said that she never expected to win a medal, citing poor training conditions and politics as two reasons.

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OMER, Israel — Shaul Ladany, a two-time Olympian, acknowledged that he was “very happy” that the International Olympic Committee finally held an official memorial for the 11 Israelis who were killed in a terrorist raid at the 1972 Munich games.

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Hundreds of fans showed up at Ben-Gurion Airport to welcome home Israel’s Olympic medal-winning judokas Monday night (Aug. 15).

Yarden Gerbi became the first Israeli to medal at the Rio Olympics, bringing home a bronze in the women’s 63-kg judo competition.

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JERUSALEM – Hapoel Jerusalem basketball fans know that when the owner of their team tweets a smiley face, the signing of a new player is about to be announced.

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RIO DE JANEIRO — Lebanese Olympians refused to ride on a bus with Israeli athletes to get to the opening ceremony of the Rio 2016 summer games.

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At 5 feet 7 inches tall, and weighing around 150 pounds, 26-year-old optimistic and powerful blonde Ilana Kratysh will become the first-ever Israeli woman to compete in the wrestling events at the Olympic Games in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil, which began Aug. 5. On Aug. 17 she will fight for the gold in the under 69-kilogram category.