Mark Berger (judoka)

Mark Berger (born January 3, 1954) is a Canadian judoka. A winner of the gold medal in the Men's Heavyweight Judo event at the 1983 Pan American Games and the bronze medal at the 1984 Summer Olympics, he was inducted into the Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame in 1994. He was born in Ukraine and became a Canadian citizen in the late 1970s.^[1][2] He won gold medals in the heavyweight division in the 1981 Maccabiah Games and the 1985 Maccabiah Games in Israel.

Mark Berger

Personal information
Born	(1954-01-03) January 3, 1954 (age 68)^[1] Chernivtsi, Ukraine^[1]
Height	1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)^[1]
Weight	116 kg (256 lb) (1984)^[1]
Sport
Country	Canada
Sport	Judo
Rank	Shichidan (7th dan)
Club	West Kildonan Judo Club Ralph Brown Judo Club
Coached by	Mamoru Oye
Medal record Men's Judo Summer Olympics Men's Judo 1984 Los Angeles Heavyweight Pan American Games 1983 Caracas Heavyweight Maccabiah Games 1981 Israel Heavyweight 1985 Israel Heavyweight |}
Updated on 10 September 2012.

Judo career

Berger immigrated to Canada from Ukraine stopping first Vienna, Austria waiting for the visa to go through in 1977. His Canadian career in Judo took off in 1978 when he won a gold medal in the Western Canada Summer Games.^[3]

National titles

He won the Canadian national title in 1980, 1981, 1983, 1984, and 1986.

World Championships

He finished 6th in the World Championships in 1981, and 5th in 1984.

Maccabiah Games

Berger, who is Jewish,^[4] won gold medals in the heavyweight division in the 1981 Maccabiah Games (in wrestling, and a silver medal in judo) and the 1985 Maccabiah Games in Israel, and also competed for Canada in judo in the 1997 Maccabiah Games.^[5][6][7]

Commonwealth Games

In 1986, he won the silver medal in the +95 kg weight category at the judo demonstration sport event as part of the 1986 Commonwealth Games.^[8]

Pan American Games

Berger won a gold medal at the 1983 Pan American Games, and was voted the province's Athlete of the Year.

Olympics

In 1984 at the Los Angeles Olympics, he earned a bronze medal in judo in the heavyweight division. He defeated Radomir Kovacevic of Yugoslavia to win the bronze medal.

Hall of Fame

He was inducted in 1994 into the Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame.^[3]

In 1996 he was inducted into the Judo Canada Hall of Fame.^[9]

Miscellaneous

• Berger is currently a coach in Canada.
• Berger coached both the men's and women's judo teams at the Maccabiah Games in 2001.
• He is also an international referee.
• Berger holds a 7th degree black belt in Judo, as well as 3-time Master of Sport ranking in Wrestling, and has placed 2nd in the World Sambo Championships.
• Berger is currently teaching in Ralph Brown School as a gym teacher. Has since retired from teaching at Ralph Brown school.

See also

• Judo in Manitoba
• Judo in Canada
• List of Canadian judoka
• List of prominent Jewish judoka

References

1. . Sports-Reference.com. Archived from the original on April 18, 2020. Retrieved September 10, 2012.
2. Dawkins, Glen (27 February 2005). "From medallist to mentor: Where are they now?" Winnipeg Sun. Retrieved 19 January 2012.
3. Biography on Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame 2012-02-05 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 19 January 2012.
4. Taylor, Paul (2004). Jews and the Olympic Games: The Clash Between Sport and Politics , p. 225. Sussex Academic Press. ISBN 1-903900-87-5
5. "1981 Team Canada Delegation"
6. "August 13, 1981, page 6". The Canadian Jewish News.
7. "1997 Team Canada Delegation"
8. "Commonwealth Games Edinburgh - Event". Judo Inside. Retrieved August 21, 2022.
9. Judo Canada Hall of Fame. Retrieved 19 January 2012.

External links

• Official website
• Jews in Sports bio