In the world of inter-collegiate and international fencing, being chosen as a member of an Olympic team is the absolute pinnacle of the sport. Cliff Bayer, of the University of Pennsylvania has been so honored twice. The Wharton MBA and fencing superstar competed for the US in both the 1996 and 2000 Olympics. In addition,… Read more »
Simply put, Larry Brown is one of the most successful basketball coaches, college or pro, of all-time. He is the only head coach to lead teams to an NBA title (Detroit 2004) and an NCAA Championship (Kansas 1988). He is also the only coach in history to lead eight different NBA teams to the playoffs…. Read more »
The first Jew to be a member of the United States Olympic Team in Sailing and first one to win an Olympic medal, Don Cohan picked up sailing in 1967 at age 37. Within three years, Cohan was competing in top Soling and Dragon-class regattas from Sweden to Tasmania; within five, he was reveling in… Read more »
Steve Cohen was an all-star gymnast who joined the ranks of the elite in World Gymnastics in Maccabiah, World and Olympic competition. A native of Wynnefield, in his senior year at West Philadelphia High School he placed first in all around for thirty-two straight individual meets capturing the city championship as he had for the… Read more »
Born in a small town in the Ukraine on November 30, 1895, Sam emigrated to America in 1906, by himself, to live with sponsoring cousins. He worked to support himself before and after school. Joining the wrestling team at South Philadelphia High enabled him to receive a partial sports scholarship to the University of Pennsylvania… Read more »
Born in Philadelphia, Samuel Hyman Goldstein became a paraplegic at the age of 14. His disability did nothing to prevent him from participating in athletics and, in fact, served as the motivation to become a top-class athlete in a multitude of sports on a variety of international stages. His pursuit of athletic achievement began in… Read more »
Dave graduated from Overbrook High School in 1933. He found the ideal sport for his great size and strength by becoming a heavyweight weightlifter. He finished second at the 1936 U.S. senior nationals. That same year, he won a position as a member of the United States Olympic weightlifting team. At the Berlin Olympics, Dave… Read more »
All-American fencer Dave Micahnik grew up in Wilkes Barre, never touching a fencing sword until he entered the University of Pennsylvania in 1955. He has been the fencing coach at the University of Pennsylvania since 1974. As an undergraduate at Penn, he was All-Ivy in epee in 1959. He was a member of three United… Read more »
Irv “Moon” Mondschein was a champion decathlete who holds the distinction of coaching track teams in two different Olympics for two different countries. In 1951 and 1952, he was the national and Olympic coach for the State of Israel and in 1988 was the decathlon coach for the United States Olympic Team. At New York… Read more »
Over a half century ago, South Philadelphia gymnast Pearl Perkins was recognized as the Mary Lou Retton of her time. She has been called perhaps the most talented South Philadelphia athlete of all, and probably the least well known. By the age of 12 she had become a Delaware Valley track and field star and… Read more »