Wembley Stadium's latest medal-winners emerged after a tough day of competition on Tuesday. But they did not have to prove their prowess on the football field.
Noam School lifted the trophy at this year's Etgar Jewish general knowledge quiz, triumphing over teams from 24 other primary Jewish schools from across the country.
In four years, the cross-communal contest has quickly established itself on the school calendar, increasing from 200 participants in the inaugural event in 2013 to more than 800 children this year.
The Year-five teams did not only have to answer questions about Judaism and Jewish history in a quiz, they also had to demonstrate their creative skills in a variety of tests. They had to design a poster on the theme of Herzl's famous Zionist motto, "If you will it, it is no dream"; devise a rap on how cool it is to be High Priest; and write a newspaper story as if they were eyewitnesses to the Crossing of the Red Sea.
While Noam (whose school happens to be based in Wembley) took gold, Beit Shvidler from Edgware earned silver and the bronze medal went to the Independent Jewish Day School in Hendon.
But as Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis said in an address at the end: "Today's event is the first to take place here at Wembley where everyone is a winner."
Etgar - Hebrew for " challenge" - is more than a one-day quiz. It was created by founders Adam Taub and Jo Rosenfelder to encourage all-round Jewish knowledge over the course of a year. At the start of the school year in September, Year-five pupils are given a handbook containing a wide range of Jewish facts. Each week they have a challenge sheet, which may be linked to Jewish festivals taking place that week. At the end, comes the inter-school contest.
Esther Cohen, head of Jewish studies at King David Primary School, Birmingham, said that she offered children the choice of participating in "something if they wanted to. A lot of it was going to be done outside the school. And every single Jewish child chose to be part of it."
So enthusiastic were her students that "when I'd come into a lesson, before I got to the table, they'd be sitting and testing each other. The level of general knowledge that they have acquired by being part of the challenge has been incredible."
Mr Taub called Etgar "a step-change in Jewish education". Children showed that they could "master Jewish general knowledge and enjoy themselves hugely in the process. It is not just about knowledge, it's also about creativity and every child having the opportunity to shine."
Mark Regev, the Israeli Ambassador, was also on hand to deliver some interesting facts about Israel. His revelation that "Israel is number three in the consumption of vegetables" elicited only a lukewarm response from his young audience. But they were more excited to hear that "every a year a million notes are put inside the Kotel"; when he asked if any of them had done that, there was a large show of hands.
At the end of the day, the participants danced to a band playing Jewish music in what one rabbi called "a summer Simchat Torah".
Etgar has now gone international with Australia, Canada, South Africa and Hungary adopting the programme. But the UK quiz remains unquestionably the biggest.
