Wolf evades LA players on the court
David Wolf at the 2016 JCC Maccabi Games in Hartford, Connecticut. (Courtesy/Kim Wolf)

Bay Area Maccabiah athletes win gold in swimming and basketball in Israel

Two basketball players with Bay Area connections won gold medals as the Maccabiah Games drew to a close yesterday in Israel.

Sam Singer, who spent the past four years as a point guard for UC Berkeley, scored 12 points in the U.S. team’s 75-67 win in the July 16 final against France.

Earlier in the day, Albany High School guard David Wolf scored two points as a team of American juniors won their championship game 53-33 against Argentina.

Dozens of Bay Area residents competed in the two-week sporting event, which is held every four years and attracts the third-largest number of athletes of any competition — trailing only the Olympics and the Pan American Games. This year’s edition drew a record 10,000 Jewish athletes from around the world.

Also bringing home gold were a pair of swimmers with Bay Area connections.

Burlingame’s Leah Goldman, who will be a senior this year at Duke University, claimed gold as a member of the women’s 800-meter freestyle and 400-meter medley relay teams and a silver medal with the 400-meter freestyle relay squad.

Goldman, a banner bearer at the Maccabiah Games opening ceremony on July 6, also won two silver and two bronze medals in individual events – adding to the five medals she won at the 2013 Maccabiah Games.

Anthony Ervin, a four-time Olympic medalist, collected a pair of individual golds at the Maccabiah Games, winning the 50-meter and 100-meter freestyle races. Ervin, a UC Berkeley alum, won the 50 free by nearly a full second, with a personal season-best time of 22.05 seconds.

Rob Gloster

Rob Gloster z"l was J.'s senior writer from 2016-2019.