The Hall of Fame Class of 2026 — Features

The International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame has been electing members since 1981, when Joe Siegman and Alan Sherman turned an American-only hall into a worldwide one; more than 500 athletes, coaches and contributors from over 30 countries have been honored since. The class announced in the spring of 2026 runs to twenty names — one of the broadest in the Hall's history, spanning eight countries and more than a century of competition. The induction ceremony, first slated for late June at Kfar Maccabiah in Ramat Gan, is now set for October 25, 2026.

Several of the twenty have long had a place in this museum. Nancy Lieberman, Olympic medalist and Basketball Hall of Famer, became the first woman to coach a men's professional team to a title when her Power side won the BIG3 in 2018. Danny Schayes played 18 NBA seasons and won three Maccabiah golds — his father Dolph is in the Naismith Hall. Andre Tippett, five-time Pro Bowl linebacker of the Patriots, is in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Yuri Foreman won the WBA super welterweight championship and was ordained a rabbi in 2014. Jay Berger reached No. 7 in the world in 1990, and Lydia Hatoel-Zuckerman won sixteen consecutive Israeli fencing championships, a run listed in the Guinness Book of World Records.

The newest inductees include several athletes whose profiles are joining the museum's collection. Julian Edelman, three-time Super Bowl champion and MVP of Super Bowl LIII, headlines the American contingent. Omri Casspi was the first Israeli to play in the NBA. Diego Schwartzman of Argentina, 5'7" and once No. 8 in the world, is joined by his compatriot Carolina Duer, world champion at bantamweight and super flyweight and the first Jewish woman to hold a WBO title. Morgan Pressel remains the youngest major champion in modern LPGA history. Zipora Rubin-Rosenbaum, with 31 Paralympic medals including 15 gold, is the most decorated Israeli Paralympian of all time; Doron Shaziri won eight Paralympic shooting medals across eight Games; and Noémie Fox won the first Olympic women's kayak cross title at Paris 2024 — making the Foxes a three-member Hall family, after her mother Myriam (2018) and sister Jessica (2022).

The class also honors the microphone and the bench. Al Michaels, whose call of the 1980 "Miracle on Ice" belongs to broadcasting history, enters alongside fellow announcer Marv Albert, the "voice of basketball" from 1967 to 2004, and Auburn's Bruce Pearl, the 2025 co-national coach of the year.

Three members are honored posthumously, and their stories carry the class's historical weight. Red Sarachek coached Yeshiva University from 1940 to 1969 and mentored, among others, Red Holzman. Dezső Földes won saber team gold for Hungary at the 1908 and 1912 Olympics. And Robert Fein of Austria won Olympic weightlifting gold in 1936 and set 23 world records — before being barred from competition for being Jewish.