Vern Barberis

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Vern Barberis

Verdi "Vern" Barberis (born June 27, 1928 in Melbourne , † January 6, 2005 in Albury , New South Wales ) was an Australian weightlifter . He won at the 1952 Olympics one in Helsinki bronze medal in the Olympic triathlon (OD) in the lightweight .

Career

Vern Barberis grew up in Melbourne and began lifting weights as a teenager. He graduated from Melbourne University. After his playing days, he was President of the Australian Weightlifting Association from 1969 to 1971. On August 30, 2000, he was honored with the Australian Sports Medal by the Australian government for his services to weightlifting .

In 1949, at the age of 19, he became the Australian lightweight champion and achieved a performance of 332.5 kg in the Olympic three-way battle that would have earned him a medal at the World Cup that year in Scheveningen, Holland, if he had been able to start there . In 1950 Vern Barberis won at the British Empire Games in Auckland in the lightweight 330 kg (95-100-135) with the bronze medal, his first medal at an international championship.

At the Australian championship in 1951, he increased in the lightweight OD to 347.5 kg (100-107.5-140) and thus belonged to the extended circle of favorites for the 1952 Olympic Games in Helsinki. In Helsinki he justified this assessment and won the bronze medal with 350 kg (105-105-140) behind Thomas Kono from the United States and Evgeni Lopatin from the Soviet Union.

In 1953, Vern Barberis stayed in Europe for a long time. During this time he started at an international tournament in The Hague and won there in the lightweight 340 kg (100-105-135). He then started at the World Youth Festival in Bucharest, where he scored 337.5 kg in the lightweight OD 337.5 kg and thus took 2nd place behind Nikolai Kostylew from the Soviet Union, who came to 350 kg. Finally he took part in the World Cup in Stockholm. He achieved there in the lightweight OD 340 kg (97.5-105-137.5) and with this performance just missed the medal ranks with 4th place.

In 1954 Vern Barberis won the British Empire & Commonwealth Games in Vancouver. He achieved in the lightweight in OD 347.5 kg (105-107.5-135). He did not take part in the 1954 World Cup in Vienna and the 1955 World Cup in Munich, although he would have been one of the medal candidates there too.

His last start at a major international championship was at the 1956 Olympic Games in his hometown of Melbourne. There he achieved his standard performance in the lightweight OD with 347.5 kg (105-105-137.5). But weightlifting had developed enormously in the meantime, so that this performance was only enough for Vern Barberis to 11th place.

After that, he ended his weightlifting career.

International success

year space competition Weight class Result
1950 3. British Empire Games in Auckland, New Zealand Light with 330 kg (95-100-135) behind James Halliday , England, 342.5 kg and Thong Saw Pak, Malaya, 332.5 kg
1952 bronze 1952 Summer Olympics / Weightlifting in Helsinki Light with 350 kg (105-105-140) behind Thomas Kono , USA, 362.5 kg (105-117.5-140) and Evgeni Lopatin , Soviet Union, 350 kg (100-107.5-142.5)
1953 1. International tournament in The Hague Light with 340 kg (100-105-135) in front of Ouwerling, Netherlands, 327.5 kg (95-100-132.5)
1953 2. World Youth Festival in Bucharest Light with 337.5 kg behind Nikolai Kostylew , Soviet Union, 350 kg, in front of Robert Belza, Czechoslovakia, 317.5 kg
1953 4th 1953 World Weightlifting Championships in Stockholm Light with 340 kg (97.5-105-137.5) behind Peter George , USA, 370 kg (105-115-150), Dimitri Ivanov , Soviet Union, 365 kg (112.5-115-137.5) and Said Khalifa Gouda , Egypt, 355 kg (97.5-115-142.5)
1954 1. British Empire & Commonwealth Games in Vancouver Light with 347.5 kg (105-107.5-135) ahead of George Nicholls, Barbados, 345 kg and Jan Pieterse, South Africa, 332.5 kg
1956 11. 1956 Summer Olympics / Weightlifting in Melbourne Light with 347.5 kg (105-105-137.5); Winner: Igor Rybak , Soviet Union, 380 kg (110-120-150) ahead of Rafael Schabutinow , Soviet Union, 372.5 kg (125-110-137.5)

Australian championships

Vern Barberis won seven times the Australian championship title in the OD light and middleweight between 1949 and 1956

Explanations
  • Lightweight, then weight class up to 67.5 kg, middle weight up to 75 kg body weight

literature

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Barberis, Vern
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Barberis, Verdi (maiden name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Australian weightlifter
DATE OF BIRTH June 27, 1928
PLACE OF BIRTH Melbourne
DATE OF DEATH January 6, 2005
Place of death Albury , New South Wales, Australia