Jack Delinger
April 22, 1926 – December 28, 1992
Oakland, California, USA
Born in Oakland, California, Jack Delinger’s introduction to the iron game was at age 16 when he visited a local YMCA and pressed his own bodyweight. In 1947, Ed Yarick announced that Jack Delinger, recent winner of the 1946 Mr. Northern California, was the “newest muscular marvel”.
Yarick knew what he was talking about: he was mentor to Steve Reeves, who won the 1947 AAU Mr. America contest, and future Hall of Famer Clancy Ross was a Yarick gym member. In 1949, Delinger won the AAU Mr. America in Cleveland, Ohio, by a wider margin than anyone else since John Grimek won his second AAU Mr. America in 1941.
Standing 5’7”, Delinger was the shortest Mr. America until 5’6” Lloyd Lerille won in 1960. Four years after winning the Mr. America, Delinger started his own gym in Oakland. In 1956, he jaunted to London to become the fifth man to win the NABBA Pro Universe.
Delinger’s favorite exercise, the bench press, gained him an impressive chest, and he appeared to be as deep as he was wide, with strength enough to perform the gymnastics iron-cross movement while his 28-pound two-year old son hung from his dad’s feet! Delinger continued running his gym at 5255 College Avenue in Oakland but, later in life, restricted his training to a few basic exercises to retain a solid physique. He died suddenly three days after Christmas in 1992.
Hall of Fame Inductees for 2001 |
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