But in the world of sports: Nissim Kivithi, who served as a presenter in the sports department of Kol Israel and was during the 70’s and 80’s one of the memorable soundtracks of sports events in Israel and around the world, passed away this morning (Sunday) at the age of 97.
Kiwithi was born in Tel Aviv with the name Nissim Kuwaiti to a family with origins in Iraq. In his youth he was an athlete and at the age of 20 he won the Championship (“Rabbanaot”) of Eretz Israel in the 1,500 meter race. At the same time he was active in the GNA and the Haganah. During the War of Independence he served as a fighter in the Givati Brigade. In the Israel Championship held in July 1949 he also won titles in the 400 meter and 800 meter races.
His rich career as a sports broadcaster in the fields of athletics and swimming on Channel 1 began at the Munich Olympics (1972), where he also covered the massacre of the athletes. He continued to broadcast most of the competitions in these branches also in the following four Olympics: Montreal Olympics (1976), Moscow Olympics (1980), Los Angeles Olympics (1984) and Seoul Olympics (1988).
His live athletics broadcasts were often alongside the commentator Dr. Gilad Weingarten, and the swimming broadcasts together with the commentator and swimming coach Yosef Talaki. At the same time, he continued his journalistic work at Yedioth Ahronoth, until in 1979 he resigned to devote himself to a television career in the sports department of Israeli television under the direction of Alex Giladi From that time he began to broadcast, in addition to swimming competitions and athletics, also tennis and soccer competitions together with Yoram Arbel.
Kavithi broadcast the soccer games that took place in the 1986 World Cup held in Mexico, and the 1990 World Cup in Italy. As part of his work in the sports department at the Broadcasting Authority, he participated in hosting Mbat Sport, as well as “The Shabbat Game”, a program summarizing the Shabbat games. He also broadcast games in the Premier League in soccer and the games of the Israel national team, as well as games in the Premier League in basketball during the 1980s and early 1990s until his retirement.
Among other things, a radio broadcast of Israel’s first participation in the Olympic Games in Helsinki in 1952, the women’s 100-meter hurdles final at the Montreal Olympics in 1976, with the participation of Esther Roth, the men’s 100-meter hurdles final at the Seoul Olympics in 1988, with the participation of Carl Lewis and Ben Johnson.
On television, he had time to broadcast the game of the Israeli soccer team against the Australian team, in the 1990 World Cup qualifiers, in which Eli Ohana scored a goal that became one of the most remembered in the Israeli pantheon, and ensured the team’s qualification for the playoff game against the Colombian team.
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