In the good old days when the Former Soviet Union existed, it gave Americans someone to root against. (Who can forget that amazing 1980 hockey game?) Now that East Germany and Soviet sports machines are gone, the Olympics can seem slightly less fun.

But for Jewish Americans, the 2008 Beijing Olympics have given us a little extra to cheer about. 

In last week’s BALTIMORE JEWISH TIMES  , we previewed several Jewish athletes competing for the U.S. And, unlike the being on the cover of Sports Illustrated, it didn’t jinx them. On the contrary, they did quite well. We featured:

• Dara Torres: She led the women’s 4x100-meter freestyle relay to a silver medal finish.

• Sada Jacobson: Lost out to a fellow American, giving her the silver in fencing as part of an American sweep.

• Ben Wildman-Tobriner : made Olympic history. He was one of two Jews on the preliminary heat of the 4x100 freestyle relay which eventually won gold using Baltimore phenom Michael Phelps Swimming.  Wildman-Tobriner swam the third leg. The other Jew was Jason Lezak.

• Jason Lezak: He will forever be linked to Michael Phelps, his mega-star swimming colleague, but he is a star in his own right. Mr. Lezak’s Herculean effort to make up a half a body length in only 200 meters in the 4x100 freestyle relay may be the key to Phelps breaking the record of Mark Spitz – the all-time great Jewish Olympian to date—record seven gold medals from the 1972 Munich Games.

As I write, here were other American Jewish stars we reported on who yet to enter competition:

• Rami Zur, Canoe/kayaking
• Kara Goucher, 10,000 meters

There were, of course, a number of Israelis doing well, too. Let’s hope they’re all part of Olympic history, too. And don’t forget to check http://www.jewishtimes.com for more Olympics and other stories.