LA28 Olympic Games: Ben Wanger - "The Olympics have the potential to bring a city together"
The 27-year-old represented Israel in baseball at the Tokyo 2020 Games and joined Los Angeles 2028 as an Athlete Fellow.
Ben Wanger, who played for the Israel baseball team at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics and joined Los Angeles 2028 as an Athlete Fellow right after, has appeared on the latest episode of the Behind the Games series.
Wanger was born in 1995 in Massachussets. He starred at the Belmonte Hill High School-Belmont, Massachusetts, throwing the first perfect game in the school's history and also played football and basketball at the high school level.
"I probably started playing baseball as young as anyone,” Wagner said.
After spending four years at Yale University, Wanger moved to the University of Southern California, Los Angeles.
"It was my first experience of LA. It was an amazing year."
Wanger said he has a "pretty unique Jewish background". His grandmother on his mother's side is a Holocaust survivor and moved to the US as a three-year-old from Lithuania.
"My representing Israel was a special thing," he said.
Wanger joined the Israeli National Team after college in what he called "a great opportunity to play international baseball” and helped Israel qualify for the Tokyo 2020 Games. "We were ranked around No. 30, and we had to beat a lot of teams ranked ahead of us."
Wanger was the starting first baseman at the WBSC Europe/Africa Qualifier in Italy. He also pitched 4.1 scoreless innings against Czechia.
"We were the first Israeli team to qualify in about 50 years, and this led us to be the largest Israeli delegation to ever come to the Olympics with around 70 athletes. It was a very special moment for the country."
Wanger will work on the transportation team at the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics. "I'm excited to really make impactful change in the local community."
About the LA 2028 Games, Wanger added: "What I'm mostly looking forward to is the energy the Olympics and Paralympics bring around the city. The Olympics and Paralympics have the potential to bring a city together. In a country that is really divided right now, I think it's important to unite around a common event and something we can all celebrate."
