Danni Brenner, the 21-year-old son of a Haifa shipping tycoon, Mila Brenner, won Israel its first Gold Medal in an international sporting event at Teheran this weekend. Brenner, whose father is co-owner of Maritime Fruit Carriers Ltd., scored an upset victory in the 100-meters free-style swimming event at the Asian Games. He beat the favored Chinese and Japanese swimmers with a time of 55.64 seconds.
Israel’s jubilation over the win was tempered by the unfriendly political atmosphere at the games. The Chinese men’s and women’s fencing teams refused to meet the Israelis. Pakistan, which will host the next Asian games, failed to show up for a basketball game against the Israeli team, and the Kuwaitis are trying to force the Israelis to pass up the football (soccer) semi-finals. The Kuwaiti team asked for a postponement from Sept. 15 to 16, the day the Israeli team must leave Teheran to be home in time for Rosh Hashana.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.