Anthony Ervin celebrates winning gold in the Men's 50m Freestyle Final at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. (Photo/File) Sports Bay Area swimming star among 10,000 athletes headed to ‘Jewish Olympics’ Facebook Twitter Email SMS WhatsApp Share By JTA | July 5, 2017 Sign up for Weekday J and get the latest on what's happening in the Jewish Bay Area. A record 10,000 athletes will be competing at the 20th Maccabiah Games, the so-called Jewish Olympics. Some 30,000 people are expected to attend the opening ceremonies Thursday, July 6 at Teddy Stadium in Jerusalem, which will be nationally televised on Israel’s Channel 2 and live-streamed starting at 10 a.m. PDT. It is the third largest sporting event in the world, according to organizers. The athletes in the 43 sports at this year’s games come from 80 countries. Israel and the United States have the largest delegations; the latter will have more than 1,000 athletes, according to Maccabi USA. Among them will be U.C. Berkeley alumnus Anthony Ervin, 36, who won the gold medal in the 50-meter freestyle last summer at the Rio Olympics 16 years after doing so for the first time in Sydney. Ervin, the son of an African American father and Jewish mother, is scheduled to help light the torch during the opening night ceremonies. In addition to the dozens of events taking place in the host city of Jerusalem, competitions will be held at 68 venues throughout the country. Many international Jewish sports stars have launched their careers at the Maccabiah, and often return to play or coach at the games. Soccer is the largest sport at the games, with more than 1,400 athletes from 20 countries participating. The competition categories are youth, open, masters and Paralympics. JTA Content distributed by the Jewish Telegraphic Agency news service. Also On J. Sports Bay Area Maccabiah athletes win gold in Israel Sports Bay Area athletes go for gold at Maccabiah Games Sports Maccabiah Games get underway with huge opening ceremony Sports Biden is first US president to attend Maccabiah Games Subscribe to our Newsletter I would like to receive the following newsletters: Weekday J From Our Sponsors (helps fund our journalism) Your Sunday J Holiday Bytes