Fortunately, that headline appeared in Ha’aretz and not Der Sturmer. It referred to the amazing victory Sunday by the American men’s 4×100 relay swimteam. It turns out that team was quite the multicultural melting pot.
Cullen Jones was only the second African American to win a gold in the water. Jason Lezak, who blew away the competition to bring his team from behind on the final leg of the relay, was a senior citizen by Olympic standards and a Jew. Garrett Weber-Gale, though much younger, also is a member of the Tribe.
Which brings us back to Ha’aretz and the headline “Two Jews and a black man help Phelps fulfill Olympic dream”:
So in the end it was two Jews, an African American (Cullen Jones) and Michael Phelps who together managed to rein in the French and set a new astonishing world record. A triumphant Lezak yesterday added jokingly: “Maybe we can set a new world record at the next Maccabiah Games.”
