Olympics History And Debunking The Myth That Jews Are Bad At Sports
This year’s Winter Olympic Games are filled with Jewish athletes.
They can be found on the hockey rink, on the slopes, sliding on bobsleds and in the figure skating competitions.
Despite a robust representation in Milan-Cortina, the stereotype that Jews are bad at sports has not fully vanished.
The stereotype is a very old one, but it was probably made most popular by none other than Adolf Hitler himself. It has become such a popular delusion that even many Jewish writers and entertainers have adopted it.
In order to understand how this stereotype began — and why it is so egregiously incorrect — I sat down with writer Michael Meyerson.
Meyerson was a tennis player in his younger years, and he began researching and writing about Jewish athletes in his spare time as a way to debunk the stereotype. His wonderful 300-page book, “Tragedy & Triumph,” details the stories of countless Jewish athletes who competed at the Olympics over the decades.
So far, the 2026 Winter Games have seen major contributions from Jewish Olympians.
Aerin Frankel’s fierce goaltending has ensured that Team USA’s women’s hockey team has only been scored on once in six games so far, leading them to the gold-medal game against Canada this Thursday. Team Canada relies on its own Jewish netminder, Kayle Osborne.
The U.S. men’s hockey team has three Jewish players, with Jack Hughes of the New Jersey Devils one of the team’s biggest stars.
While hockey is easily the sport in which Jewish players have had the most impact at these Winter Olympics, Jews are taking part in many events.
Israel launched its first bobsledding team this year, led by Orthodox former skeleton competitor A.J. Edelman. Israel also brought their first cross-country skier, Attila Mihály Kertész, to these Olympics.
While Jews are starting to leave a mark at this year’s Winter Games, their history of past Summer Olympic excellence is far more established. It is these athletes that Meyerson’s book focuses on.
He explores the constant struggle that Jews have had throughout history to be respected in athletic circles — a bigger issue than just the infamous 1936 Summer Games in Berlin when Hitler ruled Nazi Germany.
Notably, Meyerson’s book covers several athletes whose stories have made it into major films such as “Chariots of Fire” and “The Boys In The Boat.” He even touches on Martin Reisman, the hustling table-tennis player whose life inspired last year’s critically-acclaimed film “Marty Supreme.”
Meyerson and I talked about the purpose of his book, the strange moment when gliding was considered an Olympic sport, the reason many Jews are so good at fencing and lots more.
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Matthew Peterson is Religion Unplugged’s podcast editor and audience development coordinator. He took part in this past summer’s European Journalism Institute held in Prague, an annual program co-sponsored by The Media Project.