Global InformationIsaac Berger information
 Berger at the 1964 Olympics | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Born | November 16, 1936 Jerusalem, Mandatory Palestine[1] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Died | June 4, 2022 (aged 85) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 157 cm (5 ft 2 in)[1] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 59–60 kg (130–132 lb)[1] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | Weightlifting | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Club | York Barbell Club | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Isaac "Ike" Berger (November 16, 1936 – June 4, 2022) was an American weightlifter, in the featherweight division, who competed for the United States at the 1956, 1960 and 1964 Olympics and won one gold and two silver medals. He held eight world records (four official and four unofficial), and won the United States national title eight times. In the highest level international competition, he was world featherweight (60 kg) champion in 1958 and 1961, and was the runner-up for that title in 1957, 1959, and 1963.[1][2]
Berger was born to a rabbi in Jerusalem, where he studied in a yeshiva.[3]In addition to working as a Rabbi, his father made a living as a diamond setter. Isaac and his family immigrated to the New York in 1949 when he was thirteen, [4][5] [6] and he became a naturalized American citizen in December 1955.[1] Around 1952, Berger started lifting weights at Schaffer's Gym in Brooklyn. He studied auto mechanics for three years at East New York Vocational School, and later studied voice and trained to be a Cantor in a Synagogue. As a young man, Isaac spent time in playgrounds, doing acrobatics, playing softball, basketball, and even boxing at the Hebrew Educational Alliance in New York.[4]
Berger was the first featherweight in history to lift more than 800 pounds (360 kg), and the first to press double his body weight.[7] He twice won the world championships and the Pan American Games.[6]
In 1955, at nineteen, he won the Senior United States Weightlifting Title, which he won again in 1956 and 1957.[4]
In his gold medal performance at the 1957 Maccabiah Games, Berger was the first (and only one until 1998) athlete to set a world record on Israeli land in any sport. He pressed 117 kilograms (258 lb).[7] His Gold medal was presented to him by Israel Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion, who called him the "Gibor Yehudi" or "Mighty Jew".[8]
- ^ a b c d e Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Ike Berger". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on May 19, 2015. Retrieved April 1, 2018.
- ^ Isaac Berger. chidlovski.net
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
Hall of Famewas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ a b c Slater, Robert, Great Jews in Sports, Johnathan David Publishers, New York, New York, (1983), pg. 37
- ^ "Berger Sets Weight-Lift Record In Finale of Maccabiah Games; Emigrated to U.S. in 1949 Athletes Hear Premier". The New York Times.
- ^ a b "Berger, Isaac: Weightlifting". HickokSports.com. Archived from the original on March 19, 2007. Retrieved February 22, 2014.
- ^ a b "Berger, Isaac 'Ike'". Jews in Sports. Retrieved February 23, 2014.
- ^ Guedes-Reed, Caleb, and Friedman, Gabe, "Isaac Berger", South Florida Sun-Sentinel, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, pg. A-10, 11 Jan 2023