First Athletes Ratified

Now, they are elated at the prospect of participating in their first Maccabiah Games in 2022. Manager of the Junior Team.

“I am really looking forward to the upcoming games and I cannot wait to experience them,” said 16-year-old Rabinowitz.

“It will be an experience unlike anything I have done before, which has me very excited.

“I have not travelled outside of Australia for over three years now, so going to Israel will be a welcome change of scenery.”

Elbourne is excited to be travelling to Israel for the first time in his life where he will follow in the footsteps of his brother, who competed in swimming at the 2017 Maccabiah.

“I’m feeling very excited and confident for the upcoming games,” said the long-distance runner.

“It will be great to visit Israel for the first time in my life.

He added, “It will be great to meet other young Jews from around the world and develop friendships… Going and competing will be a blast, I have a competitive spirit, I cannot wait to be part of an international competition.”

While running tracks were closed during lockdowns in NSW, Rabinowitz explained how he amended his training regime to continue his preparations ahead of Maccabiah.

“Due to the pandemic, my training has been limited,” said Rabinowitz.

“Tracks are not currently open, so I have resorted to training in parks twice a week as an alternative. I am also running one or two longer distance runs every week on top of that as well as some body exercises.

“Once the recent wave of COVID-19 infections is controlled, I hope to be back on the track and training with other people as soon as possible. I love training on the track with friends as it helps to build a healthy level of competitiveness, which only encourages us to work harder.”

He added, “I also need to do more strength and flexibility work, as those are two important sectors of running that are holding me back. In addition to that, I want to add another session to my running, especially as it gets closer to the date of the Games.”

With nine months until the 21st Maccabiah begins, both Elbourne and Rabinowitz are ambitious to achieve lofty personal goals and experiences.

Elbourne specialises as a middle distance runner in 800m, 1500m and 3000m events while Rabinowitz, a short distance runner, will aim to thrive in the 100m, 200m and 400m events at the Games.

“When the games commence I will be looking to break PBs (personal bests) in every event,” Elbourne said.

“It is a main goal of mine to get into all of the Finals in each event and get as close as I can to the medal podium. This would be a dream come true for me and I cannot wait to get over there and racing”.

Rabinowitz is also relishing the opportunity to engage in the social opportunities the Maccabiah presents to meet hundreds of Jewish athletes from around the world.

“I do not only want to set running goals, but also social goals,” said Rabinowitz.

“I want to meet people from all over the world to see how they have been going and hopefully make new friends. I also want to be involved with the trip and make it as memorable as possible.”

However, when the events start, his focus will solely be on his performance.

“When the games commence, I really want to get times that I am happy with,” said Rabinowitz.

“I do not mind too much about how I do overall; all I want is to beat myself. By the time the Games begin, I am aiming to achieve a time under 11.5 seconds for the 100 metres, under 23 seconds for the 200 metres and under 52 seconds for the 400 metres.”

One Team One Dream!