Berlino the bear reveals all

From Pat Butcher

GERMAN athletics authorities and fans are still trying to come to terms with the second invasion of an Olympic stadium by an imposter in the past 40 years.

SPEAKING HIS MIND: Berlino, the star of the show at the World Athletics Championships, finally reveals all (Getty Images)

Older track fans may recall the incident at the Munich Olympics 1972 when 22 year old student Norbert Sudhaus ran into the Olympic stadium pretending to be the leader in the marathon. His stout appearance alerted officials and he was escorted from the track, with real race leader Frank Shorter of the US entering the stadium on the way to victory, wondering why he was being jeered rather than cheered.

But that was as nothing compared to the disgraceful attempt to gatecrash the Berlino Show aka the IAAF World Championships in Athletics in the Olympic Stadium of the German capital last summer.

On the first night of his eight-day solo engagement in the Olympiastadion, Berlino was interrupted by a young man masquerading as a sprinter, and trying to steal the ursine star's limelight. Never one to rebuff a young hopeful, the bear played along.

In an exclusive interview with Globerunner, Herr Berlino told us, ‘At first I thought it was Carl Lewis, ‘cause he'll do anything he can to get his picture in the paper nowadays. But I quickly realised that this guy had hair and straight teeth'.

Berlino refuted counter-claims that he was on his way across the track, with the objective of trying to maim another young Jamaican female hurdler. "That's nonsense," said the bear. "In any case, she wasn't a hurdler, she was a Walker.

Referring to the interloper, Berlino said affably, "Someone said the kid's name was Usain Bolt. I looked him up later, and found that Bolt won the world junior 200 metres back in 2002, then disappeared.  I knew it was a hoax, because someone said this kid had run 9.58sec and 19.19sec, and it's clear that that's impossible. That nice Michael Johnson told me no one was going to break his 200 metres record for 25 years, and I believe him".

Asked to explain the archer's pose, Berlino claimed that it is a nod to his favourite composer, Giachino Rossini, who wrote the William Tell Overture. This is all the more surprising, because the bear's parents were killed by hunters years ago, and the three-month old cub was found wandering alone in the Black Forest, with nothing but wild gateaux to sustain him.

Things got worse when the bear was sold into captivity, coincidentally in Munich. But one day a kindly zoo-keeper read him a story in a newspaper, which mentioned the fact that the emblem on the coat of arms of Berlin is...... a Bear!

Read more from Berlino here.....