JFIFC    $ &%# #"(-90(*6+"#2D26;=@@@&0FKE>J9?@=C  =)#)==================================================" }!1AQa"q2#BR$3br %&'()*456789:CDEFGHIJSTUVWXYZcdefghijstuvwxyz w!1AQaq"2B #3Rbr $4%&'()*56789:CDEFGHIJSTUVWXYZcdefghijstuvwxyz ?ꐌS&crtR"Ҟp@Ґ 9AHN(Q;=( xJ0qJxPpN'P0aQTht Nj"׵[uDʬʡ?08,"\`TeOX80)DH<ՖbaTr֣e*_aҹmcUṉ[v4]{]#9CQnƲ(_D*JhdBL+*f}("8*ZQ2)]Wڬ2ң +FS)O@#)Cj>S)ۺzRUl~TUjDvTJpL+@(#&H=8p:v~}J W XbXN=sJ񭈸҅P[giJ302B [#ز)Ci-jYdRںmxZ7?A\z2I QץN£a]BWM#J#01QSS"gX#ژW ΣS Qբ(=(hnfQLZ˽bGH PA1TRv@h!rT} R4e&22>hpSDZ^:zSJ͎=@Mc* o`Oܞ?@_r5Eca@'֣>q=W;|=R({cgv1oqh$0EָxP4׎ } & =%cԴ ݒ@ҍЀ`d[4) YJ lrѸʚ^X3}kEyĩC]aӵ[=^Oc:ʝT`:t{9ćzǃB ӟ .`!dсkJiJgӥ&ϥA)>cg^>XҚGҬtx@0TE}YeTd})X+E0s) isM$q$c0z R)֐~!y:|0x؅\:&u>l(0B.rENUDQV@NҼRMB=H^ L.6o&?L/4ЊT8ld(=( \D"t@Κ6墁͜m8#Һ]+P466hPGQS.,d.b,)'8 4\M.M&HgIhë.zWEWm~ow~b|Isŭ:*L^-E>tN~t\[svd_/Ҭ) :R})}:UOJ+TlJWҢajN_XaQ0S>Sqڊ)qH뺔|dΎO;900H L_DD֥MdTf@7xzBǥ_m?2R`9e;gӵO:Rukǯ5ojw@C4FW^, i%%B$ thUmr[{沭'ч~c5} IO4]U6+O~F+c#V]z2Y۪3F>c}kYңѴ;vY",9?Mm}x*Ih*oMNۥ4Jp(?J#+QL #aQ0L߇J `@߅FS0t}(vEP{sJ*MOAN@ )"d"JJ@P#^/Za-3Qw| y/jł@x:LSʁ16xaǧS\>͡3Ok>/÷+&X4̍[Y$z8HirY9΁7XX""Ty#1R`fz/+_YbG<'MT##T1>csWosZ9u8;)dѳ{Xd ʯ7W(ODsTW.\@8=3~yn3ʍiSA7o| o~՟M'$&]B@WBdsߵFái|e@}JMOKK-Rd3Jy?Jac sR~*&Ҙ\QKt=J=qJҔ.OS pSJX"3 'R*Զjc*wƺfin_Spy9c1Hni#,0X&PUy \ƥ\\[Yѱc5m&hdZ(Fp\/Z)chyJd1:*pAWAhR]:ժfGnmC4>wsU"LR VȢqkaS'( HCG闑#hc"fYzcZV sv;61=Rh\Қx7*h;GCs8 9Һ"Mo r?rnH?tSo53B_>%Om}.+%1oMGJvBfV֣*~Vex3 LqLg@3nTaxJus)X_* i!2[D )jk庺H ƒ8ccU\UGg5Vr n5V.+Yqޮ\X/& 1ddV5mK141mGT{92kSMy$j^aG˚׵펩n.n㕘z 5#Yy  ##\޲ͱN(,&E8.܌C]OGש1]Uc6m o:xVS؊ێMtk{ 8%M:Xܵyu3$18u>fIDXV&r} W}#Vң|gޫr01r(>i0+6nI9EUrhea."BbXKZB\[axG U}cȾ7[F.E€}+ ]ܭa " b+KW:^yjj,v<ϙD*P2V"8=cO7t3Nce}Ṛcbq޹_5&JmlP)]W-< ۙNGPOʹZ^-`b@ȩҚc;ARr8z}+Zf^:sj^K#]a TkYJȭbn7 Po[G+8"zUR<y`Xv` ! nqZMwdӺ=?>*4ܜmXҙ~tb~*YrpçJt5\d2MaK^Aʮ[Z%3{R~.a{#1W{U,H }WN4`ȃEӠxz 9?LLَ%<ҭ#+ 'X&IPq)rNF(ڠQCqJTc Ҙlw>1>.G@+׊BtXXNHphJ*ft4P"9n$8g iw z㠪G$nbqO[;w+ 8~ޔ 7#_$p(Ar6$T[[2)'sjdRYpfE-mtE# \rTg~jx# N+C*GƧ;Yꃆ??4–P`ԥORyކfg5s#ҙڋ+}qX=9ҀeSvbFm{P"!nP? z\ZK0 ֛7p2yr3GaLe x'Aao&2: ],gJʉNBQST `0(>5c$Jڕxf1ўO#: ԰cgOiZ7E>ҥwWC[4 5F;=TïpFE9WRwj{>C{V"H2 tëcHSaX7:&fvʀw*qe)Eu'$ Q(~"钌IGyl֚&ў]Eޭ8/n@f$fiu8c%(v#ƼhThdz%=3Kk3|Yk`kt7f\t]O#;,rMH@*IQ0ƽz~4#@The 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 seriously 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 competitions 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 470 in the clean and jerk at 220 pounds bodyweight.<br>As Schmitz s stable of Sports Palace athletes 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 national championships. 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 favo