[6] Twenty years after his first appearance in the Maccabiah, Olympic champion Mark Spitz returned to Israel to carry the Opening Ceremony’s Torch into Ramat Gan Stadium.

Seven men's and 14 women's records were broken in swimming, with the U.S. team winning all but three of the gold medals in this category.

[13][14] Canadian Gordon Orlikow, who later was a bronze medalist in the decathlon at the Pan American Games, won the gold medal in the men's decathlon with 7,141 points (finishing in first place in the 110 m hurdles and 1,500 m run, and in second place in the 400 m run, the long jump, discus, javelin, and shot put), and broke the Maccabiah Games record in the 100-meter hurdles at 14.73 seconds, earning a second gold medal.

[20][21][22] Robbie Weingard played basketball for Team USA, helping it win a gold medal.

[24] Shawn Lipman represented South Africa in rugby union, winning a gold medal.