The Passing of Weightlifting Great Isaac Ike Berger
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by USA Weightlifting
The USA Weightlifting community has lost another great American weightlifter this year with the passing of three-time Olympian Isaac “Ike” Berger. Isaac represented the US national team at the Olympic Games in 1956, 1960, and 1964 securing one gold and two silver medal placements.
Born in 1936 the Israeli national became a naturalized US citizen in December 1955 and spent his weightlifting career breaking barriers by becoming the first athlete to set a world record in Israel in any sport when he pressed a whopping 117kg at the 1957 Maccabiah Games.
Ike, A USA Weightlifting Hall of Famer, became the first lightweight lifter to press double body weight and total 360kg. In addition to his Olympic appearances Berger attended and medaled at six World Championships and two Pan American Games.
Berger was laid to rest on June 7, 2022 and is survived by one sister, two brothers, and thirteen nieces and nephews.
