It is considered a 'smaller games' for three reasons: attendance was significantly lower, particularly from the Australians (it sent only about 170 athletes, compared with around 400 in 1997); it was run at the height of the Second Intifada (and straight after the infamous Dolphinarium bombing—the largest of the Intifada—that killed 21 Israelis, mostly high school students); and not all wounds had been healed after the collapse of the bridge.
Valansi arrived in Israel as part of the Argentine football team for the 2001 Maccabiah Games.
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She was given the honor of lighting the torch at the 2001 Maccabiah Games at Teddy Stadium in Jerusalem.