December 11, 2009

We will have to grin and bear it if Berlino sneaks onto the bill

Rick Broadbent, Athletics Correspondent

Some sporting mascots do not know their ursine from their elbow. And then there is Berlino, the maverick bear who took the art of inane waving to new heights with a scene-stealing turn at the World Athletics Championships in Germany in August. The question that has festered ever since is, just who is he?

Berlino has now been lined up to feature in some way in the BBC Sports Personality of the Year knees-up in Sheffield on Sunday. It is only fitting. After Usain Bolt, it was this slightly deranged foam animal that lit up the Berlin sky and knocked down further barriers. Let us recap some of his starring roles.

When Bolt defied all logic to break the 200 metres world record, this moment of sporting greatness was hijacked by Berlino, who defied all logic to join the Jamaican on his victory charge and then pose with him for the backpages. Some thought this trivialised the feat, others just felt it was a meeting of leviathans from their respective fields/woods.

Bolt’s T-shirt, bearing the slogan “Ich bin ein Berlino” suggested that the saviour of a sport was happy to share the spotlight. The sprinter added: “Berlino and I have become friends. We have exchanged telephone numbers.”

Then Berlino ran alongside the track as Kenenisa Bekele stormed to the 10,000 metres title. He picked up Jamaica’s Melaine Walker, shortly after she had taken gold in the 400 metres hurdles, and began jogging down the back straight only to crash into a cart of hurdles.

Interestingly, the Berlin 2009 official press material included a profile in which Berlino admitted his weakness as being “my friends say I am a bit clumsy.” He added he had “never been really successful” and had a friend called Knut.

He met his match with Robert Harting, the equally excitable German discus thrower who picked him up and threw him over his shoulder. Earlier, Harting had said he hoped that his discus would strike anti-doping protesters in the face and blind them. Unabashed, Berlino later copied Harting’s Hulk-like celebration of ripping off his vest. It was not long before people were asking: who was in the suit?