JWA - Jewish Women In the Olympics




	In Focus: Jewish Women In the Olympics Jewish Women and the Olympic Games Bobbie Rosenfeld (1904–1969) Bobbie Rosenfeld, ready for a race. Photo courtesy of Canada's Sports Hall of Fame. As part of JWA's goal of documenting the lives and accomplishments of North American Jewish women we have featured runner Bobbie Rosenfeld as a Woman of Valor. Gold and Silver medallist Rosenfeld was one of Canada's most outstanding athletes. A celebrated track and field star, she excelled at virtually every sport from tennis to softball to ice hockey. With almost no formal coaching, Rosenfeld shattered national records and starred at the 1928 Olympics, the first year women were allowed to compete in track and field events. As a legendary talent and later as a sports columnist, she helped smash traditional barriers to women's participation in athletics. Elsewhere in the Jewish Women's Archive Women of Valor: Bobbie Rosenfeld Bobbie Rosenfeld poster This Week in History: Bobbie Rosenfeld goes for the gold Virtual Archive: Collection Information for papers of Bobbie Rosenfeld JWAblog: Women who go the distance Charlotte Epstein (1884–1938) Charlotte Epstein Photo Credit: Slater, Robert. Great Jews in Sports, (New York, Jonathan David Publishers, Inc.,1983), p. 65. Known as "Mother of Women's Swimming in America," Epstein founded the Women's Swimming Association and coached the Women's Olympic Swimming Team in the 1920s. Epstein was born in New York City where she became a court stenographer. In 1917, after she and a few other businesswomen expressed their desire to swim after work for exercise, Epstein formed the Women's Swimming Association to promote the health benefits of the sport. As manager and president of the WSA, Epstein guided many of its members to Olympic victory; she herself was the U.S. Women's Olympic Swimming Team's manager for the 1920, 1924, and 1928 games. Swimmers under her leadership won thirty national championships and set fifty-one world records. In 1935, Epstein chaired the swimming committee in charge of team selection at the second Maccabiah Games in Tel Aviv; the next year, she boycotted the Olympics in Berlin in protest over Nazi policies. Elsewhere in the Jewish Women's Archive Jewish Women's Encyclopedia: Charlotte Epstein JWAblog: Not just fun and games—Women, Jews, and the Olympics Virtual Archive: Collection information for Charlotte Epstein Lillian Copeland (1904–1964) Lillian Copeland Photo Credit: Amateur Athletic Foundation. Copeland was an Olympic champion in the discus throw. She was born in New York to Minnie Drasnin, a Polish immigrant. After her father died, she was raised by her mother and step-father Abraham Copeland in Los Angeles, California. A four-time national champion in shot put, Copeland switched to the discus throw and set a new world record at the 1928 Olympic trials. She was the first woman to win a silver medal for the discus throw and later broke the Olympic and world records to win a gold at the 1932 Olympics. She played in the 1935 (Second) World Maccabiah games but boycotted the 1936 Olympics in Berlin. A law school graduate, Copeland joined the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department in 1936 and worked there until her retirement in 1960. Elsewhere in the Jewish Women's Archive Jewish Women's Encyclopedia: Lillian Copeland This Week in History: Lillian Copeland wins Olympic gold Virtual Archive: Collection information for Lillian Copeland JWAblog: Not just fun and games—Women, Jews, and the Olympics Syd Koff (1912–1999) The United States participated in the 1936 Olympics in Berlin—the "Nazi Olympics"—sending the largest delegation of any country (312 athletes) to Germany. Not every athlete who qualified for the team chose to go, however. Track and field athletes Milton Green, Norman Cahners, and Lillian Copeland chose not to go. Syd Koff, winner of four gold medals at the Maccabean games in 1932, was eligible to compete in the high jump and the broad jump yet decided not to go to Berlin. Syd (born Sybil Tabachnikoff) who as a girl had to sneak out of her parents' home to participate in track and field events, never won an Olympic medal. Elsewhere in the Jewish Women's Archive Jewish Women's Encyclopedia: Sports in the United States JWAblog: Not just fun and games—Women, Jews, and the Olympics Margaret Bergmann Lambert (1919– ) Hoping "to show what a Jew could do," and "to use [her] talent as a weapon against Nazi ideology," Margaret Lambert (nicknamed Gretel) wanted to compete in the 1936 Olympics for Germany. Though she tied the German high-jump record, she was not allowed to compete. Lambert emigrated to the United States in 1937. The stadium she was not allowed to enter as an athlete in 1936 is now named for her. Current Olympians Jewish-American women at the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver Laura Spector made her Olympic debut at the 2010 games in Vancouver, competing in the women's biathlon, a combination of cross-country skiing and rifle shooting. The youngest member of the team at 22, Spector placed 77th in the 7.5km sprint on February 13, and 65th in the 15km individual on February 18. Laura Spector is a native of Lenox, Massachusetts, who began cross-country skiing in the eighth grade – which was also the first time she picked up a rifle. Spector did not expect to medal in her first Olympics and has her eyes set on the 2014 games in Sochi, Russia. She currently balances her training with undergraduate studies in biological sciences and Jewish studies at Dartmouth College. She is on track to graduate in 2010. Recent Olympians Jewish-American women at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing One of the biggest stories of the 2008 Olympics is swimmer Dara Torres (born in Los Angeles, CA 1967). She competed in her first Olympics in 1984, while many of her competitors were the age her own todder is now. At 41, she qualified for the 50 meter freestyle and the 100 meter relay, and will head to Beijing to compete in the freestyle sprints and relays that have put her at the top of her sport for the past 25 years. "I think anyone who goes to an Olympic Games wants to medal, whether it's really realistic or not," Torres said. "So I can't sit here and say I'm not thinking about a medal, because I am." Learn more about Dara at www.daratorres.com. Fencer Sada Jacobson (born in Dunwoody, GA, 1983), one of the top women competitors in the fencing world, will compete in saber in Beijing. In 2004, Sada won the bronze medal in this event in Athens, where the sport made its Olympic debut. She's taking a relaxed tack with this year's games, saying: "My goal is to go and be as prepared as I can be, and to enjoy myself." Visit www.usoc.org and www.brandeis.edu/hbi/pubs/cal_qa_sjacobson.html to learn more about Sada. Marathoner Deena Kastor (born in Waltham, MA, 1973) was the bronze medalist at the 2004 Olympics in Athens, and only the second American woman ever to medal in the event. Since then, Kastor has won the Chicago and Flora London Marathons, beating her own American record in 2006. She has high hopes for this year's race and told letsrun.com "I want a gold medal.... There is nothing more I want than to see the flag being raised and the national anthem being played. I can't think of a better gift to my country that has been so supportive of me." Learn more about Deena Kastor at www.deenakastor.com. Pole Vaulter Jillian Schwartz (born Evanston, IL, 1979) didn't begin pole vaulting until she entered Duke University in 1997. She finished 11^th in the 2004 games, and has excelled at countless national competitions. When asked why she picked the sport, she said, "There are so many factors involved it makes it a lot more fun than just flat-out running or jumping. And I guess there always is a little – I don't want to say fear, but it gets your adrenaline going to be that high in the air." Links to related resources JewishSports.com A gateway for news and information about Jews in sports Maccabiah Games Held in Israel every four years (the year after the Summer Olympic games) these games draw thousands of athletes from dozens of countries. U.S. Olympic Team The official site of the U.S. Olympic team. How to Cite This Page Jewish Women's Archive. "JWA - In Focus - Jewish Women In the Olympics." <http://jwa.org/discover/infocus/olympics/index.html>.