Israel Matzav

Raisman wins gold, cites Munich 11

I'm sure that many of you recall Aly Raisman, the young American woman who did a floor exercise to the tune of Hava Nagila. Raisman won two gold medals at the Olympics, and afterward said that she would have stood behind a moment of silence in memory of the Munich 11.

After a flawless floor routine, performed to the tune of “Hava Nagila”, U.S. gymnast Aly Raisman won her second gold medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics, and then invoked the memory of the 11 slain Israeli athletes and coaches killed at the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich.

“Having that floor music wasn’t intentional,” said Raisman, who became the first American woman to win gold in the floor exercise. “But the fact it was on the 40th anniversary is special, and winning the gold today means a lot to me.”

Confirming what she told The Algemeiner in July, Raisman, who is Jewish, remarked to reporters in London that she would have stood behind the decision to hold a minute of silence to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the murders in Munich, had the International Olympic Committee decided to agree to it.

“If there had been a moment’s silence, I would have supported it and respected it,” she said.

I suspect that she would have done a lot more than 'supported it and respected it,' but that she was afraid of saying more than that to the media at the Olympics.

The New York Post put it in slightly more dramatic terms (Hat Tip: Gary P), comparing Raisman to John Carlos and Tommie Smith, who gave a black power salute after winning medals at the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City.

It wasn’t a gloved-fist salute from the medal stand, but Jewish-American gymnast Aly Raisman made quite a statement yesterday by winning a gold medal and invoking the memory of the Israeli athletes killed 40 years ago in Munich.

Raisman finished first in the women’s floor exercise, but she deserves to have another medal draped around her neck for having the chutzpah to face the world and do what needed to be done and say what needed to be said.

At the same Olympic Games where bigoted organizers stubbornly refuse to honor the slain athletes with a moment of silence, 18-year-old Raisman loudly shocked observers first by winning, then by paying her own tribute to 11 sportsmen who died long before she was born.

And if that weren’t enough, she won her event with the Hebrew folk song “Hava Nagila” playing in the background.

“Having that floor music wasn’t intentional,” an emotional but poised Raisman told reporters after her performance.

“But the fact it was on the 40th anniversary is special, and winning the gold today means a lot to me.”

Then Raisman stuck the landing.

“If there had been a moment’s silence,” the 18-year-old woman told the world, “I would have supported it and respected it.”

...

Were it not for young Aly and her wedding dance/bat mitzvah accompaniment, the Munich dead may have never gotten their due.

“I am Jewish, that’s why I wanted that floor music,’’ Raisman said.

“I wanted something the crowd could clap to, especially being here in London.

“It makes it even much more if the audience is going through everything with you. That was really cool and fun to hear the audience clapping.’’

Raisman’s eyes opened as wide as the gold medal she would win when the judges announced her score of 15.600 points after her mistake-free routine.

Her top finish was the first by an American woman in the Olympic floor exercise, and the win gave Raisman her second gold medal. Raisman admitted the 40th anniversary of the Munich Games made her “hora” gold even more special.

“That was the best floor performance I’ve ever done, and to do it for the Olympics is like a dream,’’ Raisman said.

And here's something kind of neat: Raisman is from Newton, Mass, which just happens to be where yours truly grew up (Hat Tip: NY Nana). Someone please tell me she wants to make aliya....

Labels: London Olympics, Munich Olympic massacre

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 12:54 AM