Berlino, an anthropomorphic bear, was the mascot of the 2009 World Championships in Athletics and 2018 European Athletics Championships held in Berlin, Germany, noted for his hyperactivity [1] and celebrations with various athletes during the Championships. [2]
Up until now, Berlino appears to be mute. However, this condition does not seem to prevent him from giving interviews to the media. [3] [4]
Berlino has been referred to as the "star" of the 2009 Championships [2] [5] [6] and been noted by athletes, such as Usain Bolt by wearing a T-shirt with "ICH BIN EIN BERLINO" ("I am a Berlino", referring to John F. Kennedy's famous West Berlin speech) [7] written on it during warm up for the 200 meter final. [5] [8]
The iconic image of the games is the famous photograph of Berlino and Usain Bolt down on one knee, twinned in mutual respect, sharing a mimed lightning-bolt pose to celebrate victory and a new world record. [9]
In an interview, published after the World Championships in Berlin, Usain Bolt said: "Berlino and I have become friends. We exchanged telephone numbers." [10]
While celebrating winning the gold in 400 meter hurdles, Melaine Walker took a piggy-back off Berlino, who promptly ran into a stack of hurdles. The diverse videos of this have been watched over 400,000 times (26.08.2009) and have been called "a YouTube classic." [11]
He was also involved in some controversy during the men's 10,000m final in which he ran part of the race down the back straight with the athletes cheering them on. This annoyed some traditionalists [2] and it was rumoured that the IAAF told him to reel in the enthusiasm after this act. [11]
Smaller versions of Berlino - Berlino teddies as well as Berlino key rings, both produced in China [12] - were offered via Internet and in Berlin Tourist shops during the 2009 World Championships in Athletics in August 2009. After being delivered in the beginning of August 2009, [13] the Berlino teddies at first sold slow. [14] Due to the increasing popularity of the mascot during the games, Berlino soon became a bestseller and - before the end of the games - was out of stock.
Berlino later made a guest appearance at the UKA Aviva British Grand Prix, in Gateshead, on 31 August 2009, alongside the British mascot, Spike. [15] [16]
Tournament officials refused to publicly disclose who played the part of Berlino. However, the Guardian Observer reported that it was 33-year-old Berlin actor Oliver Seiffert. [17]
In 2018 Berlino reappeared as the official mascot at the Berlin Olympic Stadium for the 24th European Athletics Championships being hosted in the city. [18]
Justin Alexander Gatlin is a retired American sprinter who competed in the 60 meters, 100 meters, and 200 meters. He is the 2004 Olympic Champion in the 100 meters, the 2005 and 2017 World Champion in the 100 meters, the 2005 World Champion in the 200 meters, and the 2019 World Champion in the 4 x 100 meters relay. In addition, Gatlin is the 2003 and 2012 World Indoor Champion in the 60 meters. He is a 5-time Olympic medalist and a 12-time World Championship medalist. At the World Athletics Relays, Gatlin won two gold medals in the 4 x 100 meters relay in 2015 and 2017. Gatlin is also a record 3-time Diamond League Champion in the 100 meters. He won the Diamond League trophy in 2013, 2014 and 2015.
60 metres, or 60-meter dash, is a sprint event in track and field. It is a championship event for indoor championships, normally dominated by the best outdoor 100 metres runners. At indoor events, the 60 metres is run on lanes set out in the middle of the 'field', as is the hurdles event over the same distance, thus avoiding some of the effects of the banked track encircling the venue, upon which other track events in indoor events are run. At outdoor venues it is a rare distance, at least for senior athletes. The format of the event is similar to other sprint distances. The sprinters follow three initial instructions: 'on your marks', instructing them to take up position in the starting blocks; 'set', instructing them to adopt a more efficient starting posture, which also isometrically preloads their muscles. This will enable them to start faster. The final instruction is the firing of the starter's pistol. Upon hearing this the sprinters stride forwards from the blocks.
Wallace Spearmon Jr. is a retired American sprint athlete who specialized in the 200 meters. He is a two-time NCAA outdoor champion in the 200 m and won the silver medal in the event at the 2005 World Championships in Athletics. He has a personal best of 19.65 seconds for the distance, making him the thirteenth fastest 200 meter runner of all time, and he formerly held the indoor American record.
The 12th IAAF World Championships in Athletics were held in Berlin, Germany from 15 to 23 August 2009. The majority of events took place in the Olympiastadion, while the marathon and racewalking events started and finished at the Brandenburg Gate.
Aaron Nigel Armstrong is a track and field sprint athlete who competes internationally for Trinidad and Tobago. He is the 2008 Olympic champion in 4 × 100 metres relay.
Usain St. Leo Bolt is a Jamaican retired sprinter who is widely considered to be the greatest sprinter of all time. He is an eight-time Olympic gold medalist and the world record holder in the 100 metres, 200 metres, and 4 × 100 metres relay.
Lashinda Demus is a retired American hurdler who specialized in the 400 meter hurdles, an event in which she was the 2011 world champion and 2012 Olympic gold medalist, becoming the first woman from the United States to win the Olympic 400 m hurdles title.
Since the early 20th century, Jamaica has won 42 Commonwealth Golds, 14 World Championship Golds and 17 Olympic gold medals in athletics alone. Jamaica has a population of 2.85 million people, making it the 138th most populous country in the world.
Nesta Carter OD is a Jamaican retired sprinter who specialized in the 100 metres event. Carter was successful as part of the Jamaican 4 x 100 metres relay team, taking gold and setting successive world records at the 2011 World Championships and 2012 London Olympics. He also won a 4 x 100m silver medal at the 2007 World Championship and a gold at the 2015 World Championships. On August 11, 2013, Carter secured an individual 100m World Championship bronze medal in Moscow, behind Justin Gatlin and teammate Usain Bolt. He followed this with another gold in the 4 x 100 metres relay.
Melaine Walker O.D is a Jamaican 400 metres hurdler. She was born in Kingston. Walker is the former Olympic 400 m hurdles champion. She held the Olympic record of 52.64, set at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, and her time of 52.42 seconds at the 2009 World Championships in Berlin was the second fastest time in history at the time.
The men's 100 metres at the 2009 World Championships in Athletics were held at the Olympic Stadium on August 15 and August 16. The two main contenders for the event were the reigning World Champion Tyson Gay and Usain Bolt, the reigning Olympic champion and world record holder. Gay entered the competition with a season's best of 9.77 seconds while Bolt's season's best was 9.79 seconds. Four other competitors had broken the 10-second barrier during the last months before the World Championship: former world record holder Asafa Powell, Olympic finalist Churandy Martina and emerging sprinters Daniel Bailey and Mike Rodgers.
The men's 200 metres at the 2009 World Championships in Athletics was held at the Olympic Stadium, Berlin, Germany on August 18 and August 20. The winning margin was 0.62 seconds which as of 2024 is the only time the men's 200 metres has been won by more than half a second at these championships.
Ramil Guliyev is an Azerbaijani-born Turkish sprinter. He competes in the 100 metres and 200 metres. At the 2017 World Championships, Guliyev became the World Champion in the 200 metres, winning Turkey's first ever gold medal in the World Championships. His club is Fenerbahçe Athletics. In 2018, he won the gold medal in the 200 metres at the European Championships.
Jamaica competed at the 2009 World Championships in Athletics from 15–23 August. A team of 46 athletes was announced in preparation for the competition. Selected athletes achieved one of the competition's qualifying standards. The squad had a number of medal hopes for the sprinting events, including Usain Bolt, Asafa Powell, and Michael Frater in the men's and Veronica Campbell-Brown, Kerron Stewart, and Shelly-Ann Fraser in the women's. Olympic gold medallist Melaine Walker competed in the 400 metres hurdles and 2007 World Championship silver medallists Maurice Smith, Shericka Williams, and Novlene Williams-Mills also feature.
The women's 400 metres hurdles at the 2009 World Championships in Athletics was held at the Olympic Stadium on 17, 18 and 20 August.
This article contains an overview of the year 2009 in athletics.
The men's 100 metres competition at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, United Kingdom was held at the Olympic Stadium on 4–5 August 2012. Seventy-four athletes from 61 nations competed. Each nation was limited to 3 athletes per rules in force since the 1930 Olympic Congress. The competition comprised four rounds: a preliminary round for entrants without the minimum qualifying standard, a heats round, followed by three semi-finals of eight athletes each, which then reduced to eight athletes for the final.
Jamaica competed at the 2011 World Championships in Athletics from August 27 to September 4 in Daegu, South Korea.
The Women's 400 metres hurdles event at the 2011 World Championships in Athletics was held at the Daegu Stadium on August 29, 30 and September 1.
Warren Weir is a retired Jamaican sprinter, who specialized in the 200 metres. He was the bronze medallist in the event at the 2012 London Olympics, helping Jamaica sweep the medals. In 2013 at the Moscow World Championships, Warren Weir won the silver medal equalling his personal best. He finished behind Usain Bolt who set a World Leading time. His personal best is 19.79 seconds set at the National Stadium in his home country Kingston, Jamaica. He has since equalled his personal best in Moscow, in the World Championship final. He trained with the Glen Mills-coached Racers Track Club, alongside Usain Bolt and Yohan Blake.
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