JFIFC    $ &%# #"(-90(*6+"#2D26;=@@@&0FKE>J9?@=C  =)#)==================================================" }!1AQa"q2#BR$3br %&'()*456789:CDEFGHIJSTUVWXYZcdefghijstuvwxyz w!1AQaq"2B #3Rbr $4%&'()*56789:CDEFGHIJSTUVWXYZcdefghijstuvwxyz ?O?#Q^) i8Ҥ'$tfjjBGӥ"nTlv~E##MN# {v1RcM#Ҁ!aݪ22 ӥGJD@M#ڥaSHLJtTqEndfut =)=M1ҕ `p!^=):S@XQttJj7AO>Nzcҝ8$(E4/|:R=:Rc#=*6Ҥ`Dew'R$@9M`ǷJ۞Vn oouy$gdp)f\wxW Ȍr9\JM'KO$Ҷ%sIJ۱4T[TP $~Ar=ƒLX4'Gεf\׈%0[ǐTԟҚ@X{FQy$2=cF1\VUut;YX`QkJ#M GSa mqч\o-Mxx]?PB3D֥+<6*Uʝ jh, *Or:V^My]G݋&_]1H7oҦ++JzSYz8=:SP${O"UzSAuc1XVEr8)mՋ1_h`mtks(:a8V v A)8㚈zzV=(%oݳUEPp*vK_ 41Iik:v3x&vxAI>#@ǁe-κQsrmӍi3wl wѯc?*>ݿi?]W$` l&&ݷ?kS,8]ɯ\h9z+X:ߝV!x{mN.+p3A ݞlZ;YJ]SmckXYp~5RV10T`H.q@e *#B iWlq< @1x- %hА2M{ߥ- 8cJ0S`"+HE@ai˓ޘRP޵eALwwϗVZ+ϥt+7Y-.DXRq]­/:>KHۏf3LZi,-0\WGZCI38Tv3ȷ&8֥9 *bJS&0ڥaQң}RdO= 'ޚ[ހ~Pr98>:ҎiSD[VY@Yt'˟@f;hdww=>>f{}:W kǰ:цG>U*''3Z@(zQzfCF3 :?xR&Q-~h$9R=+t=r_Sá} |׊Y|=G)f6QLaݥLU-(Ҩ$&b|taT2s<\>eb%٘)eddbWc}_jM6?Psh vfIDe8?֩oGކOq:q@~c|C_HȽ4BiwcqL yZhӹPnJ 9_187wzoa{.sh?7>3%a@\t%d&uo,fi##-l\ 8 ^?u,flȉ2vL6[I'[k-Wɵ|ǾToEp0)OARAH)zwi{%;foRz h5kBkHϑh<*r8ԜqWAx0i&]Ϝ;89OnqY_ /ɡ]O+N-BWȥXty4rݖlVO34~}HSuӐ-¦y8=*Υ7T\n[=b-1>ƭ+sE${\oi67(/SjK6;fE[ݩ3]: ؊7B>|=sHmOsӮQ+l|}z΋mkXqdٌBzO iRjI[ c?SU%[SW`5"^isL2y#S{<er2TZ4#X.],;l?Ƒlp~Q?90Jc@ϳ8"O\'yGm&$vR2>`I1]$2>Gր<:Umk5,|hX/%̎O^QDr؟㡯N6hSDZGm{sf,0x΢wydi$rX4 ) 3oMյl2GkgHPlh"֮판F[4*8:_6pZ|!{ܟƶ4;րV|guᴫ.R}=z_mk'ܨjœ3KqyK ܨ=;uhbРJa(P8x班s*_cR&eO+w`Bzt2_կ.r M᪬wHx *AH>3 DzT6 2~ӒgHL?S:xPe9?JMۮߨW&,Mqa؜Sžnb89#>)_տ NX\ "Q,|C>esW?ws *]yĦJbdx  -U?[9>+0[̜~bQcw~ZpgSpo++_] _i,X I#YwԻh;IL3M2}H.J3 gf@S@ ;cL(Ij>})4]bHoƔ4((㱒Kg*[jM:)h׌dҸK>8;(x1ӤŦ9h+G>ԾBȨZ8Xz#` d~ƈd @b8-Ff}#u#[7<0Vq='pOJJ}s#M-a1[ǵ$d^0A;N(XTDφaN:5F{# ڰ,,+Xr9R=xy@W8 jIgɰ,m9u@A犾F*TEf8'#MOF=N(64p$E/2ޝyT`O֊A9QEF7R, O#5\P}qK`\S#ݟҞ8 0U^W/jj;2AJ.Z6ǵ'ٕA'~L8$`z{,>2H8RB *wށتϲ"WsS(pp{w!_1ぁM/R zՐ^Қ 篨-DhxQ3? {d q#o=($X)LkҤUgPH0~qO8#$d"`'<ӗ8P歲v@DS}BG zq88Z*0#m#@@袒$mO;Ҁwh::i>XE'>9)P@h)=]rM?'mR@!<QEI柖j( [E0wzԙ dud(rNhN袄(ن|=s){[X+|$h:~]kN5Vwr4RHPԚ%E,320 ?ҵƊ'ڸ(Nj1̮H EO*6Cސlb?Ga֐ېӹ*8냊nl{sQ*g?\ . N{g.dCS0) _G-MBC =G^ ҙUYKDI>( 2 ;ACgTrjC#$ȁ gnM6ާlni 1l}iqH?!N@ QM{3@/o#ܿga#|#kYxz;ZUPa- O';#s(L𩨶y'$k×Z#%#/ɯ};,Bσ<9d0l>Vϐv:pU5{KSECy1ίʏ!hO9j=GҊ*J&oCL DYLh&E2ܚY1?ʊ)HR_(՟>6jݿ*ZMWThe word spread quickly that Schmitz was an intelligent coach who could motivate athletes to perform their best at competitions. Soon the personable Schmitz found himself working with Ken Patera, a super-heavyweight lifter (over 242 pounds bodyweight) who became the first American to clean and jerk 500 pounds and the only American to Olympic press over 500 pounds (505.5). Many weightlifting experts believed that Patera had the best chance of any American lifter to defeat the famous Russian champion Vasily Alexeev. Unfortunately, an injury kept Patera from sriously challenging Alexeev in the 1972 Olympics, and a commitment to professional wrestling closed the door for good on any future Olympic battles for Patera.<br>In 1972 Schmitz was able to buy out his partners, and he moved the gym four and a half blocks to an old neighborhood on Valencia Street. He also shortened the name of the gym to simply the Sports Palace. His new location turned out to be a good one, enabling him to make enough profit to travel to numerous national and international copetitions throughout the year. The new gym was also close to Mission High School, where Ken Clark was then enrolled. While in school Clark walked into the Sports Palace looking for a place to train, and Schmitz coached him to the Olympic games and to American records of 363 in the snatch and 47 in the clean and jerk at 220 pounds bodyweight.<br>As Schmitz s stable of Sports Palace athlete continued to grow, his goals began to change.  As my team got better, I began to think that we might be able to win the national championships, says Schmitz.  That was in the late  70s, and it took us until 1982 to win the nationalchampionships. The significance of this achievement is that his team beat the York Barbell Club, which had won the championships for 29 years in a row. The York team was composed of athletes throughout the country who were sponsored by York, whereas almost all Schmitz s athletes were from the San Francisco Bay Area and were dues-paying members at Schmitz s gym. Proving the victory was not a fluke, the Sports Palace team went on to win seven more national titles.<br><br>A Legacy <br>of Strength<br><br>Asking Schmitz who his favorite lifters are is like asking a father which of his children he likes the best - he just can t do it. Schmitz was willing, however, to describe some of the