Isaac Berger

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.

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.

His most publicized early achievement was likely his Gold medal in the 60 kg weightlifting competition at the 1956 Melbourne Summer Olympics, setting a world record of 352.5 kilograms (776 lbs) for three lifts.

Ike believed the strain and injury caused by this effort was the reason he won only a Silver Medal behind Eugene Miniev of the Soviet Union in Olympic competition.

Later in his career, demonstrating his consistency in high level international competition, he won a silver medal at the 1964 Tokyo Summer Olympics at 60 kg.

In 1970, Isaac concentrated his attention on a business venture, known as Ike Berger Enterprises, devoted largely to the sale of weightlifting and exercise products.