This list of Jewish athletes in sports contains athletes who are Jewish and have attained outstanding achievements in sports. The topic of Jewish participation in sports is discussed extensively in academic and popular literature.

Sports have been a historical avenue for Jewish people to overcome obstacles toward their participation in secular society. Jewish people immigrated from the countries where they had faced persecution. Some made Aliyah to the State of Israel, while others moved elsewhere.

The criteria for inclusion in this list are:

  • 1–3 places winners at major international tournaments;
  • For team sports, winning in preliminary competitions of finals at major international tournaments, or playing for several seasons for clubs of major national leagues; or
  • Holders of past and current world records.

Boldface denotes a current competitor.

To be included in the list, one does not necessarily have to practice Judaism. Some members of the list may practice another faith or not at all; although they do have to be of either ethnic Jewish descent or other Judaism-related background.

American football

Jake Curhan
A. J. Dillon
Nate Ebner
Julian Edelman
Anthony Firkser
Greg Joseph
Ali Marpet
Mitchell Schwartz

Association football (soccer)

Yael Averbuch
Kyle Beckerman
David Beckham
Yossi Benayoun
Steve Birnbaum
Jonathan Bornstein
Benny Feilhaber
Tomer Hemed
Zac MacMath
Daniël de Ridder
Alex Scott
Manor Solomon
Daniel Steres
Matt Turner
Shon Weissman
Eran Zahavi

Australian rules football

Todd Goldstein
Harry Sheezel

Baseball

Harrison Bader, center fielder (San Francisco Giants)
Alex Bregman, infielder (Chicago Cubs)
Scott Effross, pitcher (New York Yankees)
Max Fried, pitcher (New York Yankees)
Zack Gelof, second baseman (Oakland Athletics; Team Israel)
Dean Kremer, pitcher (Baltimore Orioles; Team Israel)
Matt Mervis, first baseman (Miami Marlins; Team Israel)
Joc Pederson, outfielder (Texas Rangers; Team Israel)
Kevin Pillar, outfielder (Texas Rangers; Team Israel)
Rowdy Tellez, first baseman (Texas Rangers)

Basketball

Deni Avdija
Sue Bird
Omri Casspi
Jordan Farmar
Gal Mekel
Amar'e Stoudemire
Danny Wolf

Bowling

Mark Roth

Boxing

Hagar Finer
Yuri Foreman
Dmitry Salita
Cletus Seldin

Canoeing

Jessica Fox
Noemie Fox
Shaun Rubenstein
  • László Fábián, Hungary, sprint canoeist, Olympic champion (K-2 10,000 meter), 4× world champion (3× K-2 10,000 meter and 1× K-4 10,000 meter) and one silver (K-4 10,000 meter)
  • Imre Farkas, Hungary, sprint canoeist, 2× Olympic bronze (C-2 1,000 and 10,000 meter)
  • Jessica Fox, French-born Australian, slalom canoeist, Olympic gold (C-1 slalom), Olympic silver and bronze (K-1 slalom), world championships gold (C-1 and K-1)
  • Noemie Fox, French-born Australian, slalom canoeist, Olympic champion, 2x world champion
  • Myriam Fox-Jerusalmi, France, slalom canoeist, Olympic bronze (K-1 slalom), 5 golds at ICF Canoe Slalom World Championships (2× K-1, 3× K-1 team)
  • Klára Fried-Bánfalvi, Hungary, sprint canoeist, Olympic bronze (K-2 500 m), world champion (K-2 500 m)
  • Leonid Geishtor, URS (Byelorussia), sprint canoeist, Olympic champion (Canadian pairs 1,000 meter)
  • Joe Jacobi, US, slalom canoeist, Olympic champion (C-2 slalom)
  • Michael Kolganov, URS (Uzbek)-born Israeli, sprint canoeist, Olympic bronze (K-1 500metre) for Israel; 2× world champion
  • Anna Pfeffer, Hungary, sprint canoeist, Olympic 2× silver (K-2 500 m), bronze (K-1 500 m); world champion (K-2 500 m), silver (K-4 500 m), 2× bronze (K-2 500)
  • Naum Prokupets, Moldovan/URS, sprint canoeist, Olympic bronze (C-2 1,000me), gold (C-2 10,000m) at ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships
  • Leon Rotman, Romanian, sprint canoeist, 2× Olympic champion (C-1 10,000m, C-1 1,000m) and bronze (C-1 1,000m), 14 national titles
  • Shaun Rubenstein, South Africa, canoeist, World Marathon champion 2006

Cricket

Michael Klinger

Curling

Cycling

Equestrian

Margie Goldstein-Engle

Fencing

Eli Dershwitz
Yuval Freilich
Delila Hatuel
Soren Thompson
Maia Weintraub

Field hockey

Giselle Kañevsky

Figure skating

Max Aaron
Sasha Cohen
Sarah Hughes
Irina Slutskaya

Golf

Laetitia Beck
Morgan Pressel

Gymnastics

Aly Raisman
Lilia Akhaimova
Alexander Shatilov

Horse racing

Ice hockey

André Burakovsky
Jakob Chychrun
Adam Fox
Jack Hughes
Quinn Hughes
Zach Hyman
Luke Kunin
Nate Thompson
Jeremy Swayman
Jake Walman
Jason Zucker

Judo

Oren Smadja
Arik Ze'evi
Alice Schlesinger
  • Yael Arad, Israel, 1992 Olympic silver (light-middleweight)
  • Mark Berger, Canada, Olympic silver & bronze (heavyweight)
  • Robert Berland, US, Olympic silver (middleweight)
  • Ārons Bogoļubovs, URS/Latvia, Olympic bronze (lightweight)
  • James Bregman, US, Olympic bronze (middleweight)
  • Aaron Cohen, US
  • Yarden Gerbi, Israel, 2016 Olympic bronze (under 63 kg)
  • Maya Goshen, Israel, 2022 world bronze medalist for mixed teams (men and women)[citation needed]
  • Raz Hershko, Israel, Olympic silver and bronze, World 2x bronze, European champion
  • Felipe Kitadai, Brazil, Olympic bronze (60 kg)
  • Daniela Krukower, Israel/Argentina, world champion (under 63 kg)
  • Inbar Lanir, Israel, World Champion, Olympic silver (‍–‍78 kg) and bronze (mixed)
  • Charlee Minkin, US, Pan American women's champion (half lightweight division; under 52 kg)
  • Sagi Muki, Israel, 2019 World Champion (under 81 kg), Olympic bronze, 2022 World bronze medalist for mixed teams (men and women), 2015 & 2018 European champion
  • Peter Paltchik, Israel, Olympic 2x bronze, world 2x bronze
  • Moshe Ponte, Israel, Olympian (half-middleweight)
  • Gefen Primo, Israel, 2018 & 2021 European bronze medalist, 2021 World bronze medalist (under 52 kg)
  • Shira Rishony, Israel, -48 kg
  • Or "Ori" Sasson, Israel, 2016 and 2020 Olympic bronze medalist
  • Alice Schlesinger, Israel-Britain, World Judo Championships bronze; European junior champion (under 63 kg)
  • Baruch Shmailov, Israel, Olympic bronze medalist, European U23 champion, European junior champion (under 66 kg)
  • Oren Smadja, Israel, 1992 Olympic bronze medalist (lightweight)
  • Ehud Vaks, Israel (half-lightweight)
  • Gal Yekutiel, Israel, European bronze medalist 2× Olympian
  • Ariel "Arik" Ze'evi, Israel, 2004 Olympic bronze medalist (100 kg)

Lacrosse

Mixed martial arts

Cyril Benzaquen
  • Cyril Benzaquen, France, world champion of kickboxing, world champion of Muaythai, light heavyweight
  • Nili Block, Israeli world champion kickboxer and Muay Thai fighter; 60 kg (132 pound) weight class
  • Johann Fauveau, France, world champion of Kickboxing, super welterweight
  • Fabrice Fourment, France, --European Championships of karate kyokushin, Bronze, Porto 2000, +90 kg -Scandinavian International Open, Gold, 1998
  • Itay Gershon, Israel, -World University Muay Thai Champion (~71 kg). -Bronze medalist at the 2017 World Games (Poland) in kickboxing, light middleweight category. -Class A medalist at the WAKO World Championships (K-1).
  • Ilya Grad, Israel, lightweight Muay Thai boxing champion
  • Emily Kagan, US, UFC fighter in the women's strawweight division; competed in season 20 of The Ultimate Fighter
  • Sarah Kaufman, Canada, former Invicta and Strikeforce Bantamweight champion.
  • Noad "Neo" Lahat, Israel, featherweight MMA (UFC)
  • Ross Levine, US, karate combat champion
  • Natan Levy*, Israel, featherweight mixed martial artist in the UFC
  • Ido Pariente, Israel, lightweight Pankration World Champion
  • Yulia Sachkov, Israel, world champion kickboxer
  • Marina Shafir, Moldova-US
  • Rory Singer, US, middleweight fighter from The Ultimate Fighter 3

Motorsport

François Cevert
Lance Stroll

Professional wrestling

Rock climbing

Rowing

  • Jean Klein, France, Olympic silver
  • Károly Levitzky, Hungary, Olympic bronze
  • Guy Nosbaum, France, Olympic silver
  • Allen Rosenberg, US, champion and Olympics coach
  • Donald Spero, US multi-collegiate (Cornell 8+) and national champion (1×), multi-European medalist (1×, 2×), world champion (1×), Henley Royal Regatta champion (1×), Gold Cup champion (1×), US Olympian (1×), and a founder of the National Rowing Foundation
  • Josh West, American-born British, men's eight, Olympic silver, 2× World Rowing Championships silver and one bronze

Rugby league

Albert Rosenfeld

Rugby union

Nate Ebner
Zack Test

Sailing

Jo Aleh
Gal Fridman
Shahar Tzuberi
Yoav Cohen

Shooting

Skateboarding

  • Alan Gelfand, US, invented the ollie, the foundational skateboarding trick
  • Minna Stess, US, Olympian
  • Lynn Kramer, US, 17x Women's World Champion in Slalom Skateboarding, and a member of the Skateboard Hall of Fame

Skeleton

Skiing and snowboarding

Speed skating

  • Vladislav Bykanov, Ukraine-born Israel, short-track, Olympian and Silver European Championship
  • Andy Gabel, US, Olympic silver (5,000 meter short track relay)
  • Rafayel Grach, URS, Olympic silver (500 m), bronze (500 m)
  • Irving Jaffee, US, 2× Olympic champion (5,000m, 10,000m), world records (mile, 25 miles)
  • Emery Lehman, US, Olympic bronze (Team Pursuit)
  • Dan Weinstein, US, short-track, 3× world champion (2× team 1,000m, team short-track 5,000m)

Sports Climbing

Softball

Surfing

Anat Lelior

Swimming

Anthony Ervin
Amit Ivry
Jeremy Reingold
Mark Spitz
Claire Weinstein
  • Margarete "Grete" Adler, Austria, Olympic bronze (4 × 100m freestyle relay)
  • Vadim Alexeev, Kazakhstan-born Israeli, breaststroke
  • Jessica Antiles, US
  • Semyon Belits-Geiman, URS, Olympic silver (400 m freestyle relay) and bronze (800 m freestyle relay); world record in men's 800m freestyle
  • Adi Bichman, Israel (400 m and 800m freestyle, 400m medley)
  • Damián Blaum, Argentina, open water
  • Gérard Blitz, Belgium, Olympic bronze (100 m backstroke), International Swimming Hall of Fame
  • Yoav Bruck, Israel (50 m freestyle and 100m freestyle), Israel (50m freestyle and 100m freestyle)
  • Tiffany Cohen, US, 2× Olympic champion (400 m and 800m freestyle); 2× Pan American champion (400m and 800m freestyle), International Swimming Hall of Fame
  • Anthony Ervin, US, Olympic champion (50m freestyle), silver (400 m freestyle relay); 2× world champion (50 m freestyle, 100m freestyle)
  • Yoav Gath, Israel (100 and 200 m backstroke)
  • Scott Goldblatt, US, Olympic champion (4 × 200m freestyle relay), silver (800 m freestyle relay); world championships silver (4 × 200m freestyle), bronze (4 × 200m freestyle)
  • Eran Cohen Groumi, Israel (100 and 200 m backstroke, 100m butterfly)
  • Andrea Gyarmati, Hungary, Olympic silver (100 m backstroke) and bronze (100 m butterfly); world championships bronze (200 m backstroke), International Swimming Hall of Fame
  • Alfréd Hajós (born "Arnold Guttmann"), Hungary, 3× Olympic champion (100m freestyle, 800m freestyle relay, 1,500m freestyle), International Swimming Hall of Fame
  • Michael "Miki" Halika, Israel, 200m butterfly, 200m and 400m individual medley
  • Judith Haspel (born "Judith Deutsch"), Austrian-born Israeli, held every Austrian women's middle and long-distance freestyle record in 1935, refused to represent Austria in 1936 Summer Olympics along with Ruth Langer and Lucie Goldner, protesting Hitler, stating, "I refuse to enter a contest in a land which so shamefully persecutes my people."
  • Otto Herschmann, Austria, Olympic 2-silver (in fencing/team sabre and 100m freestyle); arrested by Nazis, and died in Izbica concentration camp
  • Amit Ivry, Israel, Olympic semi-finalist (200 metre individual medley)[citation needed]
  • Lenny Krayzelburg, Ukrainian-born US, 4× Olympic champion (100 m backstroke, 200m backstroke, twice 4 × 100m medley relay); 3× world champion (100m and 200m backstroke, 4 × 100m medley) and 2× silver (4 × 100m medley, 50m backstroke); 3 world records (50m, 100m, and 200m backstroke)
  • Herbert Klein, Germany, Olympic bronze (200 m breaststroke); 3 world records
  • Dan Kutler, US-born Israeli (100 m butterfly, 4 × 100m medley relay)
  • Ruth Langer Lawrence, Austria; along with Judith Haspel and Lucie Goldner refused to represent Austria in 1936 Summer Olympics, their protest stating "We do not boycott Olympia, but Berlin".
  • Keren Leibovitch, Israeli Paralympic swimmer, 3× world champion, 3 world records (100m and 200m backstroke; 100m freestyle), and 8× Paralympic medal winner
  • Jason Lezak, US, 4× Olympic champion (twice 4 × 100m medley relay, 4 × 400m medley relay, 4 × 100 freestyle relay), silver (400 m freestyle relay), 2× bronze (100m freestyle, 4 × 100m freestyle relay); 8× world champion (4× 4 × 100m medley, 3× 4 × 100m freestyle, 100m freestyle), silver (4 × 100m medley), bronze (4 × 100m freestyle)
  • Klara Milch, Austria, Olympic bronze (4 × 100m freestyle relay)
  • József Munk, Hungary, Olympic silver (4 × 200m freestyle relay)
  • Alfred "Artem" Nakache, France; world record (200m breaststroke), one-third of French 2× world record (3 × 100m relay team); imprisoned by Nazis in Auschwitz, where his wife and daughter were killed
  • Paul Neumann, Austria, Olympic champion (500m freestyle)
  • Maxim Podoprigora, Ukrainian-born Austrian Olympic swimmer[citation needed]
  • Sarah Poewe, South African-born German, Olympic bronze (4 × 100m medley relay)
  • Marilyn Ramenofsky, US, Olympic silver (400 m freestyle); 3× world record for 400m freestyle
  • Jeremy Reingold, South African, 200m individual medley world record, South South African SA under-21 rugby team
  • Keena Rothhammer, US, Olympic champion (800 m freestyle) and bronze (200 m freestyle); world champion (200 m freestyle) and silver (400 m freestyle), International Swimming Hall of Fame
  • Albert Schwartz, US, Olympic bronze (100 m freestyle)
  • Otto Scheff (born "Otto Sochaczewsky"), Austria, Olympic champion (400 m freestyle) and 2× bronze (400 m freestyle, 1,500m freestyle)
  • Mark Spitz, US, Olympic champion (9 golds (400 m freestyle relay twice, 800m freestyle relay twice, 100m freestyle, 200m freestyle, 100m butterfly, 200m butterfly, 400m medley relay), 1 silver (100 m butterfly), 1 bronze (100 m freestyle)), has the second-most gold medals won in a single Olympic Games (7); 5× Pam Am champion; 10× Maccabiah champion; world records (100m and 200m freestyle, 100- and 200m butterfly), International Swimming Hall of Fame
  • Josephine Sticker, Austria, Olympic bronze (4 × 100m freestyle relay)
  • Tal Stricker, Israel (100m and 200m breaststroke, 4 × 100m medley relay)
  • András Székely, Hungary, Olympic silver (200 m breaststroke) and bronze (4 × 200m freestyle relay); died in a Nazi concentration camp
  • Éva Székely, Hungary, Olympic champion & silver (200 m breaststroke); International Swimming Hall of Fame; mother of Andrea Gyarmati
  • Lejzor Ilja Szrajbman, Poland, Olympic 4 × 200m freestyle relay; killed by the Nazis in Majdanek concentration camp
  • Judit Temes, Hungary, Olympic champion (4 × 100m freestyle), bronze (100 m freestyle)
  • Dara Torres, US, Olympic 4× champion (400 m freestyle relay, 4 × 100m freestyle relay twice, 4 × 100m medley relay), 4× silver (50 m freestyle, 2× 4 × 100m freestyle, 4 × 100m medley relay), 4× bronze (50 m freestyle, 100m freestyle, 100m butterfly, 4 × 100m freestyle relay, 4 × 100m medley relay); world championship silver (4 × 100m freestyle); Pan American champion (4 × 100m freestyle)
  • Eithan Urbach, Israel, backstroke, European championship silver & bronze (100 m backstroke)
  • Otto Wahle, Austria/US, 2× Olympic silver (1,000 m freestyle, 200m obstacle race) and bronze (400 m freestyle); International Swimming Hall of Fame
  • Garrett Weber-Gale, US, 2× Olympic champion (4 × 100m freestyle relay, 4 × 100m medley relay); world champion (3× 4 × 100m freestyle, 4 × 100m medley), silver (4 × 200m freestyle)
  • Wendy Weinberg, US, Olympic bronze (800 m freestyle); Pan American champion (800 m freestyle)
  • Claire Weinstein, US, Olympic silver, world champion (women's 4 × 200m freestyle relay)
  • Ben Wildman-Tobriner, US, Olympic champion (4 × 100m freestyle relay); world champion (2× 4 × 100m freestyle, 50m freestyle)
  • Wally Wolf, US, Olympic champion (4 × 200m freestyle relay)
  • Imre Zachár, Hungary, Olympic silver (4 × 200m freestyle relay)

Table tennis

Taekwondo

Avishag Semberg
  • Mitchell Bobrow, USA, All American Open Grand Champion 1969, Madison Square Garden
  • Avishag Semberg, Israel, Olympic bronze medalist 2020, European gold and silver (49 kg)

Tennis

Madison Brengle
Camila Giorgi
Aslan Karatsev
Shahar Pe'er
Diego Schwartzman
Dudi Sela
Denis Shapovalov

Track and field

Danielle Frenkel
Steven Solomon

Triathlon

Volleyball

Alix Klineman

Water polo

Weightlifting

Wrestling

Grigoriy Gamarnik
Károly Kárpáti

Jewish sports halls of fame

Jewish sports halls of fame
Source all entries with references, please
International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame (Netanya, Israel) National Jewish Sports Hall of Fame and Museum (US) Southern California Jewish Sports Hall of Fame

See also

Bibliography

General works

  • , Bernard Postal, Jesse Silver, Roy Silver, Bloch Pub. Co., 1965
  • , Leible Hershfield, s.n., 1980
  • , Andrew Handler, East European Monographs, 1985, ISBN 0-88033-085-6
  • , Harold Uriel Ribalow, Meir Z. Ribalow, Edition 4, Hippocrene Books, 1985, ISBN 0-88254-995-2
  • , B. P. Robert Stephen Silverman, Shapolsky Publishers, 1989, ISBN 0-944007-04-X
  • , Joseph M. Siegman, SP Books, 1992, ISBN 1-56171-028-8
  • , Peter Levine, Oxford University Press US, 1993, ISBN 0-19-508555-8
  • , Robert Slater, Jonathan David Publishers, 1993, ISBN 0-8246-0360-5
  • , Steven A. Riess, Syracuse University Press, 1998, ISBN 0-8156-2754-8
  • , 3rd Ed, Joseph Siegman, Brassey's, 2000, ISBN 1-57488-284-8
  • , B. P. Robert Stephen Silverman, Scarecrow Press, 2003, ISBN 0-8108-4775-2
  • , Robert Slater, Jonathan David Publishers, 2004, ISBN 0-8246-0453-9
  • , Jeffrey S. Gurock, Indiana University Press, 2005, ISBN 0-253-34700-9
  • , Michael Brenner, Gideon Reuveni, translated by Brenner, Reuveni, U of Nebraska Press, 2006, ISBN 0-8032-1355-7
  • , David J. Goldman, Edition 2, Kar-Ben Publishing, 2006, ISBN 1-58013-183-2
  • , Peter S. Horvitz, Joachim Horvitz, S P I Books, 2007, ISBN 1-56171-927-7
  • , Peter S. Horvitz, SP Books, 2007, ISBN 1-56171-907-2
  • , Jack Kugelmass, University of Illinois Press, 2007, ISBN 0-252-07324-X
  • , Bob Wechsler, KTAV Publishing House, 2008, ISBN 1-60280-013-8
  • , Vol. 23 of Studies in Contemporary Jewry, Ezra Mendelsohn, Oxford University Press US, 2009, ISBN 0-19-538291-9

Baseball

  • , Harold Uriel Ribalow, Meir Z. Ribalow, Hippocrene Books, 1984, ISBN 0-88254-898-0
  • , Erwin Lynn, Shapolsky Publishers, 1986, ISBN 0-933503-17-2
  • , Peter S. Horvitz, Joachim Horvitz, SP Books, 2001, ISBN 1-56171-973-0
  • , Burton Alan Boxerman, Benita W. Boxerman, McFarland, 2006, ISBN 0-7864-2828-7
  • , Peter S. Horvitz, Joachim Horvitz, Perseus Distribution Services, 2007, ISBN 1-56171-821-1
  • , Howard Megdal, Collins, 2009, ISBN 0-06-155843-5
  • , Burton Alan Boxerman, Benita W. Boxerman, McFarland, 2010, ISBN 0-7864-2828-7
  • , Larry Ruttman, University of Nebraska Press, 2013, ISBN 978-0-8032-6475-5

Boxing

  • , Ken Blady, SP Books, 1988, ISBN 0-933503-87-3
  • When Boxing Was a Jewish Sport, Allen Bodner, Praeger, 1997, ISBN 0-275-95353-X

Chess

  • , Harold U. Ribalow, Meir Z. Ribalow, Hippocrene Books, 1987, ISBN 0-87052-305-8

Olympics

  • , Milly Mogulof, RDR Books, 2002, ISBN 1-57143-092-X
  • , Paul Taylor, Sussex Academic Press, 2004, ISBN 1-903900-88-3
  • , Paul Yogi Mayer, Vallentine Mitchell, 2004, ISBN 0-85303-451-6

External links