Tamara Metal

Tamara Metal was born in 1933 in Poland

Metal was born in Poland in 1933 to a Jewish family. The family moved to Mandatory Palestine in 1935. She began doing sports at age 11, trained under Avraham Green and attended Ironi Alef high school.

She played basketball for Maccabi Tel Aviv and captained the Israel women's national team. In 1950 she led the team at the European championship in Budapest, where it finished 11th. With her club she won many national titles and state cups.

In athletics she was an Israeli champion and record holder in the high jump and the long jump. At the 1952 Helsinki Olympics she was Israel's flag bearer, placing 17th in the high jump and 29th in the long jump. She also won Maccabiah medals in 1950 and 1953.

At the 1973 Maccabiah she recited the athletes' vow. In 1976 the International Olympic Committee chose her to take part in lighting the Olympic torch in Greece for the Montreal Games. She later coached women's basketball.

She married Shmuel "Shumi" Shumacher, who organized several Maccabiah Games. He died in 1986. The couple had 4 children, and she died in 2022.