Verdi "Vern" Barberis (27 June 1928 – 6 January 2005) was an Australian lightweight weightlifter. Barberis grew up in Melbourne and attended the University of Melbourne and studied science. He won a bronze medal at the

1950 British Empire Games The 1950 British Empire Games was the fourth staging of what is now called the Commonwealth Games. It was held in Auckland, New Zealand between 4 and 11 February 1950, after a 12-year gap from the third edition of the games. The main venue was ...

in Auckland, New Zealand, lifting a total of . This was the first time that weightlifting had been contested at the Games. He won another bronze medal at the

1952 Summer Olympics The 1952 Summer Olympics ( fi, Kesäolympialaiset 1952; sv, Olympiska sommarspelen 1952), officially known as the Games of the XV Olympiad ( fi, XV olympiadin kisat; sv, Den XV olympiadens spel) and commonly known as Helsinki 1952 ( sv, Helsin ...

, becoming the first Australian to win a weightlifting medal at the Olympics. Later at the

1954 British Empire and Commonwealth Games Events January * January 1 – The Soviet Union ceases to demand war reparations from West Germany. * January 3 – The Italian broadcaster RAI officially begins transmitting. * January 7 – Georgetown-IBM experiment: The fi ...

he became the first Australian to win a weightlifting gold medal at a major international competition. The seven-time national champion rounded out his career at the

1956 Summer Olympics The 1956 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XVI Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event held in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, from 22 November to 8 December 1956, with the exception of the equestrian events, whi ...

in his home city of Melbourne, where he finished 11th. Barberis was the first Australian lightweight to clean and jerk over which at the time exceeded the Victorian heavyweight record. His Australian records stood for many years and his Victorian snatch record lasted twenty years. Barberis was a highly respected teacher and trainer. Between 1969 and 1971, he served as President of the

Australian Weightlifting Federation The Australian Weightlifting Federation is the governing body for the sport of Weightlifting Weightlifting generally refers to activities in which people lift weights, often in the form of dumbbells or barbells. People lift various kinds of ...

. He was later inducted into the AWF Hall of Fame, and on 30 August 2000 awarded the Australian Sports Medal for his weightlifting achievements.

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AUSTRALIAN WEIGHTLIFTING PIONEER: VERN BARBERIS
{{DEFAULTSORT:Barberis, Vern 1928 births 2005 deaths Australian male weightlifters Olympic weightlifters of Australia Weightlifters at the 1952 Summer Olympics Weightlifters at the 1956 Summer Olympics Weightlifters at the 1950 British Empire Games Weightlifters at the 1954 British Empire and Commonwealth Games Olympic bronze medalists for Australia Commonwealth Games gold medallists for Australia Commonwealth Games bronze medallists for Australia Recipients of the Australian Sports Medal Medalists at the 1952 Summer Olympics Commonwealth Games medallists in weightlifting University of Melbourne alumni Olympic medalists in weightlifting