Shem-Tov Sabag

Israeli former Olympic marathoner (born 1959)

Shem-Tov Sabag

Personal information

Native name| שם טוב סבג
Full name| Also Shemi Sabag, and Shemi Sagiv
Nickname| Shemi
Nationality| Israeli
Born|  (1959-04-13) April 13, 1959 (age 65)
Haifa, Israel
Alma mater|

* Augustana College
* University of Oregon (Bachelors in Exercise Physiology '86; Masters in Biomechanics and Gait Analysis '89)
* University of Western States (Doctor of Chiropractic '93)

Occupation(s)| chiropractor, triathlon coach
Height| 1.65 m (5 ft 5 in)
Weight| 52 kg (115 lb)
Relative(s)| Shachar Sagiv and Ran Sagiv, Olympic triathletes (sons)[1]
Sport
Country|  Israel
Sport| Running
Races| cross-country, 5,000 metres, 10,000 metres, 25K, half marathon, and marathon
College team| Augustana Vikings, University of Oregon Ducks
Achievements and titles
National finals|

* Israeli national marathon champion (1984, 1987)

Personal bests|

* Half Marathon: 1:06:13
* Marathon: 2:18:23

Medal record

Representing  Israel
Men's marathon
Vancouver Marathon
| 1989 Vancouver | Individual
Tiberias Marathon
| 1984 Tiberias | Individual

Shem-Tov "Shemi" Sabag; later known by the surname Sagiv[1][2] (Hebrew: שם טוב "שמי" סבג; born April 13, 1959) is an Israeli former Olympic marathoner, former triathlon coach, and currently a chiropractor.[3][4] He competed for Israel at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. He won both the 1984 Lake County Marathon, and the 1989 Vancouver Marathon. His sons Shachar Sagiv and Ran Sagiv have both competed in the Olympics in the triathlon.[1]

## Early and personal life

[edit]

Sabag was born in Haifa, Israel, later lived in Zichron Yaakov and Tiberias, Israel, and is Jewish.[5][2][6][7] He started running marathons at age 17, at the urging of a high school coach, but lost three years of training as he served with a tank unit in the Israel Defense Forces.[2][8] He later changed his surname to Sagiv.[9]

His sons Shachar Sagiv and Ran Sagiv have both competed in the Olympics in the triathlon, coming in 20th and 35th, respectively, in the Tokyo Olympics held in 2021.[10][11][1] His son Shachar, whom he coached until 2021, will represent Israel at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris in the Men's triathlon at Pont Alexandre III on July 30, 2024.[12][13]

## Education

[edit]

He studied as a pre-med student at Augustana College in Rock Island, Illinois, in 1983 and 1984.[2][14] In the summer of 1983, between semesters at Augustana, he worked at Camp Interlaken, developing a running program.[7]

In the winter of 1984-85, he transferred to the University of Oregon, in Eugene, Oregon.[15] In 1986 he obtained a bachelor's degree from the University of Oregon in exercise physiology.[16]

From 1986 to 1989 he studied biomechanics and gait analysis as a graduate student at the University of Oregon, earning a master's degree. During that time, he ran for a year for the Oregon Ducks.[16][17][18][19][20]

From 1989 to 1993 he studied at the University of Western States in Portland, Oregon, earning a Doctor of Chiropractic degree, and is now a chiropractor.[16]

## Running career

[edit]

### 1983–84; 2x All American, 2x CCIW 5,000 meter champion, CCIW cross-country champion, Lake County Marathon champion

[edit]

At Augustana College, he was an All-American in cross-country in 1983 and 1984.[21][14] In 1983, he was the College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) 5,000 meter champion, and won the silver medal in the CCIW Cross-Country championship, with a time of 24.49.[22][23] In November 1983, he came in 8th in the NCAA Men's Division III Cross Country Championship in Newport News, Virginia.

In May 1984, in a season in which he was co-captain of the Augustana Vikings Track and Field team, he came in 2nd in the 10,000 meters (in 30:18.48) and 6th in the 5,000 meters, at the NCAA Division III men's outdoor track and field championships in Northfield, Minnesota.[24][21][2] He also set the record in the CCIW 5,000 meters in 1984 (while winning the title for the second straight year), with a time of 14:24.36 (still a CCIW championships record as of 2021), and that year also set the Credit Island Park four-mile course record with a time of 19:33 (as of 2009, that was still a school record in the four-mile).[25][26][27][21][28] In 1984 he won the CCIW cross-country championship, with a time of 24:52.7, after having won the silver medal in 1983, and also won the Notre Dame Invitational in South Bend, Indiana, with a time of 24.06.[29][21][30] He was named team MVP in both 1983 and 1984.[21]

In April 1984 he won his first marathon in his eighth race at that distance, in Chicago, Illinois, in the Lake County Marathon in 2:21:47.[14]

His personal best time in the marathon was 2:18:23, which he ran in June 1984 in Duluth, Minnesota.[3]

### 1984 Summer Olympics

[edit]

He competed for Israel at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, California, at the age of 25.[3] He had qualified with his time in his third marathon in three and a half months.[31] Running in the Men's Marathon in August 1984 he came in 60th out of 107 competitors, with a time of 2-31:34.[3][32] When he competed in the Olympics, Sabag was 5 feet 6 inches (168 cm) tall and weighed 139 pounds (63 kg).[3] Speaking of the Munich Massacre, which had taken place 12 years earlier at the Olympics, he said: "As a representative of Israel, I am here to do what they tried to do. We are here to continue their job."[2]

### 1984–present; Israel national marathon champion, Vancouver Marathon champion

[edit]

In December 1984 he won the silver medal in the Tiberias Marathon in Israel, with a time of 2:22:15, behind British marathoner Lindsay Robertson, and won the Israeli national marathon championship.[33][34][35]

In the mid-1980s, after transferring, he ran for the University of Oregon Ducks track and field team, under coach Bill Dellinger.[36]

His personal best in the half-marathon was 1-06:13, which he ran in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in September 1986.[33] Also that month, he won the New York Road Runners Club Back-To-Work 4-Mile Run in 19 minutes, 10 seconds in Central Park.[37][38]

In 1987 he won the Israeli national marathon championship in a time of 2:27:57.[39][35]

In September 1988, he won the 18th annual NIKE/OTC (Nike/Oregon Track Club) 25K in Eugene, Oregon, with a time of 1:20:26.[40]

Sabag won the Vancouver Marathon in Canada in May 1989 with a time of 2:19:41.[33] He did so against a field of 1,109 finishers.[41]

## See also

[edit]

* List of University of Oregon Olympians

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b c d Amy Spiro (July 26, 2021). "For Israeli triathlete brothers, the Olympics is a family affair". The Times of Israel.
2. ^ a b c d e f Martin Lader (July 23, 1984). "It is 12 years since Munich, and still the..." UPI.
3. ^ a b c d e "Shem-Tov Sabag Bio, Stats, and Results". sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on 2020-04-18.
4. ^ "Shemtov Sabag - Olympic Athletics - Israel". Olympic.org. 15 June 2016.
5. ^ Dotan Malach (December 29, 2022). "I believe that at my level today I deserve a medal in any competition, including the Olympics," Makor Rishon.
6. ^ "Sabag, Shem-Tov". Jews in Sports.
7. ^ a b "Specialty camps offer variety of programs". The Wisconsin Jewish Chronicle. May 6, 1983. p. 5.
8. ^ Zapier Bot (July 17, 2021). "Tokyo 2020 thoughts with Ran Sagiv". Oceania Triathlon.
9. ^ אורחים, כותבים (December 2, 2016). "TRI זה הכי אחי: שחר ורן שגיב - אלופי ישראל בטריאתלון אילת 2016!". Bikepanel.
10. ^ Debra Nussbaum Cohen (24 May 2021). "Israeli Olympic triathlete has family and country riding on his shoulders". The Forward.
11. ^ "Shachar Sagiv becomes first Israeli athlete to compete in Saudi Arabia". The Times of Israel. 30 October 2022.
12. ^ איפרגן, סתיו (June 9, 2024). "ריאיון בלעדי | 'יצאנו לריצה ושם אבא אמר לי שמספיק. שאנחנו צריכים להיפרד'". Ynet.
13. ^ Heming, Tim (7 June 2024). "Complete, Up-to-Date Triathlon Start Lists for the Paris 2024 Olympics". Triathlete.
14. ^ a b c "Running". The Chicago Tribune. April 30, 1984.
15. ^ "The Team", Inside Oregon Track Newsletter, February 1985, Number 1.
16. ^ a b c "ד"ר שמי שגיב - כירופרקט | המרכז לכירופרקטיקה NSA ישראל". chiro-nsa.co.il.
17. ^ "Streetwise," Oregon Daily Emerald, November 2, 1987, p. 5.
18. ^ "Track & Field". University of Oregon Athletics.
19. ^ "UO Olympians". University of Oregon Athletics.
20. ^ "Oregon Men's Cross Country History" (PDF). Oregon Cross Country. 2007.
21. ^ a b c d e "Year-by-year records," Augustana Men's Cross-Country Record Book– 2021.
22. ^ Mike Krizman (October 23, 2009). "Men's Individual Champions". 2009 CCIW Cross Country Championship Program.
23. ^ "Cross Country Looks Ahead". Augustana Observer. September 14, 1983. p. 8.
24. ^ "Track Results NCAA Division III Track and Field Championships At Northfield, Minn., May 25". UPI. May 25, 1984.
25. ^ "Men 5000 Meter Run," CCIW Championships; Augustana College Results.
26. ^ "Statistics," 2009 Men’s Cross Country Media Guide.
27. ^ "Statistics," CCIW Outdoor Track & Field History.
28. ^ "Records: CCIW Championships". Athletic Live.
29. ^ Dave Andrzejewski (October 9, 1984). "Harriers pace to top twenty finish at Notre Dame," The Lanthom, p. 10.
30. ^ "CCIW Men’s Cross Country History," CCIW.
31. ^ "כתבות על ד"ר שגיב". chiropract.co.il. January 27, 2016.
32. ^ "Shem-Tov SABAG | Profile". World Athletics.
33. ^ a b c "Runner: Shem-Tov Sabag". Association of Road Racing Statisticians.
34. ^ "Israeli Championships". GBR Athletics.
35. ^ a b "National Marathon Champions for Israel". Association of Road Racing Statisticians.
36. ^ "Oregon Update," Inside Oregon Track Newsletter, Fall 1986, p. 1.
37. ^ "Elsewhere. Olympian Shemi Sabag of Israel won …". Orlando Sentinel. September 8, 1986.
38. ^ "From Journal-News wires". The Journal News from White Plains, New York. September 8, 1986. p. 33.
39. ^ "Tiberias International Marathon". Association of Road Racing Statisticians.
40. ^ "Final Running of NlKE/OTC 25K," National Masters News, November 1988, issue 133, p. 7.
41. ^ "1989 Vancouver Marathon". RUNVAN.

## External links

[edit]

* Shem-Tov Sabag at Olympics.com
* Shem-Tov Sabag at Olympedia