| Israel at the 1964 Summer Paralympics | |
|---|---|
 | |
| IPC code | ISR |
| NPC | Israel Paralympic Committee |
| Website | www |
| inTokyo | |
| Competitors | 20 in 5 sports |
| Medals Ranked 7thth |
|
| Summer Paralympics appearances (overview) | |
Israel participated in the1964 Summer Paralympics inTokyo. 20 Israeli athletes won seven gold medals, three silver and eleven bronze, enabling their country to finish 7th on the medal table.
The Israeli delegation was composed of tenIDF veterans and ten athletes of theIsrael Sports Center for the Disabled. Other excelling athletes were banned from participating due to indecent behavior. The delegation was headed by Mr. Arieh Fink, head of the rehabilitation department of theIsrael Ministry of Defense, and accompanied by Mr. Gershon Huberman, director of the Israel Sports Center for the Disabled. Further members of the delegation were basketball coaches Shimon Shelah and Jacob Hendelsman, Mrs. Edna Medalia and two medical nurses.
In the 1964 Summer Paralympic Games, Israel participated for the first time in theweightlifting field, followingShalom Dlugatch's achievement of criteria by breaking the previous Paralympics' record. Delegation memberIsrael Even-Sahav was the sole athlete, of all participating states, asked to take part in rehearsals to the opening ceremony.
The delegation's travel expenses were divided in accordance with its composition: The IDF veterans were sponsored by the Ministry of Defense, sports organizations, the Olympic Committee and the athletes themselves, while the Center's athletes were sponsored by Japanese parties, most prominently by businessmanSaul Eisenberg.
The eldest member of the delegation wasMichael Ben-Naftali (40) and the youngestJacob Ben-Arie (14). Israel was ranked 7th on the medal table, winning seven gold medals, three silver and 11 bronze and achieving three world records.
Since at the dawn of theParalympic Games there was no precision in reporting the results of the competitions, theIsraeli athleteMichal Escapa was indicated with theItalian nationality and without prename (and so she is mentioned in theInternational Paralympic Committee[1] of theItalian Paralympic Committee[2] web sites) for the reports of theSwimming at the 1964 Summer Paralympics where she won two bronze medals, simply reported as Escapa and not as Michal Escapa.[3][4] However, as can be seen from a 1968 Israeli newspaper reporting an interview with the athlete, she was the same athlete who had won medals in swimming and table tennis inTokyo 1964.[5]
... but at the Tokyo Olympics in 1964, she came to the place of success precisely. And she brought an additional Israeli team trophy as well as two sports for me
