Denise Walker
Denise Walker
The ant icipation of v isiting Israe l at this point i n time ca n cause a few moments of anxiety in the heM" of m en, and needl ess to say practically all newcomers presen t o n our flight appea re d to be the sli ghtest b it appr ehensive, As we d e bark ed at LOD Int ernat iona l Airport in Tel-Aviv we were imme d iate lY confro nted w ith a securit y blank et of so ld iers who ca rried Uzi machin e gun s that prove d to be eve r prese nt th roug h-o ut th e rem ainder of our stay, We very quit kl y It),t our fear and anx iety, and began to enjoy thi s most bea uti f ul and hi storic country, knowin g that we we re bein g verY closely protect ed against the o minou s terrorist act ivit ies, The Israe li peop le and th e adm in istrator s of the Hapoe l games we re the most gracio us hosts wit h red ca rpet treatment th e o rd er of th e day, The H apoel Ga mes are conducted every fo ur yea rs by th e Labo r party of Israe l. They emp lo y the Olym p ic format in hosting fr ien dly nations in competitiv e and exhibit ion spo rting act iv iti es, The Uni ted States was re lega ted to performin g gymnasti cs ex hibition s sin ce it was
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quite apparent that we wou ld ha ve be en much too , II ong lor m us t of the co u ntries present. 1hu" o ur entire tr ip was a most relaxing ex p el ic'n("(' wi th li terall y no pressures, many days of pleasant work-o ut situat ions and tim e for ho urs of sun shin e and swimmin g o n th e Mediterranean, Th iS was perhaps o ne o f th e few times in ou r lives t hat we cou ld go to bed at n ight and kn ow th at th e next morning w e wo ul d ari se to a tota l day of cloudless, sun shi ne fill ed skies and warm tempe rat ures, It never ra ined ! Th e ex hibit io ns in Tel -Av iv and Haifa were enthu sa iast ica lly at ten ded by large audi ences and a capt ivated telev ision fo ll owing of three milli on people, It is interesti ng to note th at ther e is only o ne telev isio n channe l in all of Israe l w hi ch is viewed i n eve ry home, business es tablishment and Kibbutz by an avid pop ulace, Th e fo ur member team represe ntin g th e U nited States consis ted of th e ve teran Jim C ulh ~ ne w ho performed in five eve nts, Sam Schu h of Southern Connect icut State Co ll ege w ho wowed them w ith hi s doub le bac k in pike
po sitio n o n floo r ex" Cole D owa liby the 1975 Women's Co ll egiate Champion w it h stunnin g balalll C' 1H'.r11l ,ln J fluor exercise rout in es, very abl y (hor( '() gr.rph eJ by M uri el Gorssfeld , and a surp ri sing ly charisma ti c fifteen yea r o ld Denise Wa lker o f Lowe ll , Massachusetts, Deni se ve ry qui ckl y wo n th e acc laim of th e Israeli people as she performed w ith start li ng aplomb both in th e ex hibiti o n arenas and on th e nat iona l scene, On ce Deni se's fl oo r exercise was viewed by some 9,000 peop le in th e Tel-Aviv arena and a nati o n.!1 telev ision aud ience, she had arri ved as the I,,'.r eli's hero ine, an insta nt symbo l of all that is goud frum the Uni ted States, It was quit e appar ent th at larger groups were appea rin g at Wi ngate Universit y Gymnasium to view ou r wor k-out sessions and of co urse all eyes we re trained o n Deni se, As th e groups bega n to swell int路o large audi ences it beca m e obvious th at we wo uld have to grant a sp ecial qu es tion and answer interview and impromptu c li n ic hi gh li ghti ng o f co urse, Denise Walk er, On ce again Den ise p erformed with great confidence and com pl etely won over h er vas t fo ll owin g. The Uni ted States t ea m, coac h ed by Ed Kn eppe r, proved to be a va luab le asset to America at a time w hen diploma ti c relation s w ei e in.r rdther telluou s position , Thus, it is felt, th at through th e efforts of th is small contingc'lll. .I rewa rdin g friendship has been ref UI u;, I1('<I.
De nise Walker
GYMNAST Nov, '75