PersonJewish Eligibility — Verified by JWR

Isaac Berger

American featherweight weightlifter who won Olympic gold in 1956 and silver medals in 1960 and 1964.

United States

Portrait of Olympic weightlifter Isaac Berger.

Unknown photographer / The Asahi Shimbun, Tokyo 1964Wikimedia CommonsPublic domain

Biography

Isaac “Ike” Berger was born on 16 November 1936 in Jerusalem in British Mandatory Palestine. Raised in a Hasidic family as the son of a rabbi, he moved to the United States in 1949 and became a U.S. Berger competed in three Olympic Games, winning gold in 1956 and silver in 1960 and 1964. He was inducted into the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame in 1980 and died on 4 June 2022. American featherweight weightlifter who won Olympic gold in 1956 and silver medals in 1960 and 1964. In Jewish World Records, Isaac Berger is connected to the record “Most Olympic Medals Won by a Jewish Weightlifter,” based on the stored achievement of 3 Olympic weightlifting medals (1 gold, 2 silver).

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Records held by Isaac Berger

Olympic weightlifter Isaac Berger during the Tokyo 1964 Olympic Games.

JWR VerifiedFounding Record

SportsMost

Most Olympic Medals Won by a Jewish Weightlifter

Record holder

Isaac Berger

Record value

3 Olympic medals (one gold, two silver)

Isaac Berger holds the record for the Most Olympic Medals Won by a Jewish Weightlifter, with a career total of "3 Olympic weightlifting medals (1 gold, 2 silver)". Representing the United States, he competed at three Olympic Games, winning a featherweight gold medal at Melbourne 1956, followed by silver medals at Rome 1960 and Tokyo 1964. The record was set on 12 October 1964, the date of the featherweight competition in Tokyo where he secured his third medal. The International Weightlifting Federation confirms his record of winning three medals at three separate Olympic Games.

Country represented: United States
Achievement location: United States
Achievement date: 12 October 1964

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