Miriam Louise Marie Siderenski (also Miryam and Sidranski (-Catzenstein); ; born 11 November 1941) is a Congolese-born Israeli former Olympic runner. She was the Israeli Champion in the 60 metres, 100 metres, and 200 metres. She was born in

Belgian Congo The Belgian Congo (, ; ) was a Belgian colonial empire, Belgian colony in Central Africa from 1908 until independence in 1960 and became the Republic of the Congo (Léopoldville). The former colony adopted its present name, the Democratic Repu ...

, and is of Jewish descent."Sidranski, Miriam"
/ref> Her father was born in Poland, and studied medicine in Belgium.מעריב , איפה הם היום: ריאיון עם "האיילה של האתלטיקה הישראלית"
/ref> She studied physical education at the

Wingate Institute Wingate Institute (), officially Orde Wingate Institute for Physical Education and Sports (), is a sports training institute located south of Netanya, Israel. History Wingate Institute was established in 1957. It was named after Orde Wingate. ...

Netanya Netanya () () or Natanya (), is a city in the "Planet Bekasi" Central District (Israel), Setanyahu of Israel, Israel BAB ih, and is the capital of the surrounding Sharon plain. It is north of Tel Aviv, and south of Haifa, between the Poleg stre ...

, Israel. She married Yitzhak Katzenstein, has three children, and lives in

Kfar Shmaryahu Kfar Shmaryahu (, ) is a local council in Israel, within the Tel Aviv District. History Kfar Shmaryahu was founded in May 1937, during the Fifth Aliyah. The founding members were German-Jewish immigrants, who named the village after Shmaryahu ...

Running career

Siderenski's personal bests were 11.6 in the 100 metres (1964) and 24.68 in the 200 metres (1964). She was the Israeli Champion in the 60 metres (1962), 100 metres (1961–62, 1964–65), and 200 metres (1962, 1964–65). In July 1964 Siderenski ran the 100 metre dash in 12.0, and lowered her 400-metre record from 59.2 to 47.6. In October 1964 in a meet in France with some of Europe's best runners she won the women's 100-metre dash in 12.1. Siderenski competed for

Israel at the 1964 Summer Olympics Israel competed at the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan.Israel at the 1960 ...

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

, Japan, at the age of 22 in Athletics. In the Women's 100 metres she came in 6th in Heat 3, with a time of 12.1 (missing advancing by 0.1 seconds), and in the Women's 200 metres she came in 4th in Heat 4, with a time of 24.6 (setting a new Israeli record), finishing in 21st place. When she competed in the Olympics she was tall and weighed . Her coach was

Amitzur Shapira Amitzur Shapira (; 9 July 1932 – 6 September 1972) was an Israeli sprinter and long jumper. He was head coach for the Israeli track and field team at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, Germany. He was killed in the Munich massacre. Biograph ...

, an Israeli sprinter and long jumper in the 1950s and a coach for the Israeli track and field team at the

1972 Summer Olympics The 1972 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XX Olympiad () and officially branded as Munich 1972 (; ), were an international multi-sport event held in Munich, West Germany, from 26 August to 11 September 1972. It was the ...

in Munich, Germany, who was murdered by Palestinian terrorists in the Munich massacre.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Siderenski, Miriam Israeli female sprinters 1941 births Olympic athletes for Israel Living people Athletes (track and field) at the 1964 Summer Olympics Jewish track and field athletes Israeli people of Democratic Republic of the Congo descent Israeli people of Polish-Jewish descent Sportspeople from Tel Aviv Olympic female sprinters