Israel sends largest Olympic delegation ever to Rio

The Israeli delegation that marched in the glittering opening of the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio Friday night consisted of 47 athletes ready to compete in 17 sports. They faced a minor hitch from the unsporting behavior of the Lebanese delegation, which refused to travel on the same bus as the Israeli sportsmen and barred their access to the bus. The organizers cut the incident short by directing the Israelis to another bus.

 IOC President Thomas Bach led a mourning ceremony Wednesday for the 11 Israeli athletes and coaches slain at the 1972 Munich Olympics — a tribute that a widow of one of the victims said brought “closure” for the families.

Bach, his voice cracking with emotion, read out of the names of each of the 11 Israelis and the German policeman who died after a raid by Palestinian gunmen in the athletes’ village in Munich, the worst terror attack in Olympic history.

 

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