Barney Berlinger

Bernard Ernst "Barney" Berlinger (March 13, 1908 – December 2, 2002) was an American decathlete. He competed in the 1928 Summer Olympics and won the James E. Sullivan Award in 1931.

Sports career Barney Berlinger was a multi-sport athlete in high school, attending William Penn Charter School and later Mercersburg Academy, where he was coached by the Scots American trainer Jimmy Curran. At the University of Pennsylvania, however, coached by Lawson Robertson, he started focusing on track and field and especially decathlon. As the top four were selected, that was enough to make the Olympic team. He broke the meeting record on each of those occasions; in 1930 he scored 7460 points, his new personal best. Later that year he became national champion in the non-Olympic pentathlon. He was one of nine American star athletes sent on a goodwill tour of South Africa that summer, and he broke the all-comers records there in several events. Despite only finishing fifth at the national championships, Berlinger still topped the vote for that year's James E. Sullivan Award;

Berlinger missed most of the 1932 indoor season due to an injured back. That summer he concentrated on starting his business career, deciding not to try out for a place at the Olympic Games in Los Angeles; At the start of the year in March 1933, Berlinger staged his comeback after the disappointments of 1932, by beating the defending Olympic decathlon champion Jim Bausch in a head-to—head 'septathlon' contest indoors at Madison Square Gardens in New York City. He won his only national decathlon title in 1933 with a score of 75 97 despite jogging through the final event, 1500 meters, so slowly (7:03.1) that he received no points at all.

Due to his versatility and key roles in his teams, Berlinger was at times called a "one-man track team". In high school, he did indeed win Mercersburg a team title by himself. and after World War II he worked as an instructor for Army coaches in Europe. He remained with the company for the rest of his professional life, eventually retiring as its president in 1978.

During his working life, Berlinger was issued with several patents, for example one for 'continuous shaft brake for fishing reels' in 1940.

Accolades and awards In 1931, Berlinger was awarded the James E. Sullivan Award for being judged the outstanding amateur American sportsman that year.

The same year he was awarded the title of the United States best amateur athlete by the National Sportswriters Association.

In 1996, Berlinger was inducted as a member of the inaugural class in the Penn Athletics Hall of Fame. His son, Barney Berlinger Jr. was also inducted in the same class.