JFIFC    $ &%# #"(-90(*6+"#2D26;=@@@&0FKE>J9?@=C  =)#)==================================================" }!1AQa"q2#BR$3br %&'()*456789:CDEFGHIJSTUVWXYZcdefghijstuvwxyz w!1AQaq"2B #3Rbr $4%&'()*56789:CDEFGHIJSTUVWXYZcdefghijstuvwxyz ?P< "8'B8R.K@b)9sE S=ONw(?FqVW5Ӥ[H9u N3OW>նK˦v\#V3o NjOJD/ $cJ2RWFr aR12HJzttJmTSxv}@M+J ߅4D}?:;TSS\i3 0j4S:5"?F dS*NGqO=K=SO8$P ZxƺV3##Rm?IڗgA␮{T>^ SCL)VJTeyb8m6i>eW/ʭǡ}L< ْWlac^Ydb 19~4Tvm[3tBa8`$#@4}s,;]ufX$aUr 壾Sc[iW;:[/C[+s`n1:ұ-]:;81T€@uwsnf(x[Y>rAoBy$ADi>!vr!dCZ 9~ ηt icqı}>*gR0ܨRGvSr9d&=Uji_jQv ҘJv}b=22:P2 )uS2S/;QL ;x\xsN_H0z>Rc_sR3Tp:P) zPYAzלQ4sɯEN5的gMM^O5s5efًGTB -Vb>Wj6 Vm+DXt8=kִM^"i/$ThHDZQڞuMV#\d(ӎVSw+?uCikC"Liʂ){~RFwGUGY:M=#u;-eoċ$mv f=2[,[ \l*|v<,sY;U[ >&23=+;#_Jdwt)do$rOV+EtN8!W%jYIʟva\lVDwRlLŚ<͵L'QN29Wpgb.}l&{ D$'{t5c 6s>Q͌g̫#!n{UÑ2C/ǽZ)hW 85G=$O9jsڠ `3 viQ_£ROjr:@9GzNٮomUҷLUYZL6ɐAz}fZMKC1ߤJApPJÇNvo8=+6ЯayK2 a69qzlzpPNjcO *Hi1讟][Hڲedx&'VPΧ֪L!]D=e'TZ3'-S)?<*[`sKbwo'Hҥ<5ur{6cFb=kT`!'5[Qyx?HV7]Nne9Tk;Vzzӳ:tZx?ʻ#$Edh\ R!Fmm!#>;dp ݰ̲z\ʛXh[*;H䳝Z%lԾb I!kymECRGN? q(pN9<>܎'~3  $ZKmRO˜Y`NnT1܇ЊwEN85_6vDIr!}i#/?Ok!raڶ dt?'c#=)]=Jf9j܀0O'$W/AkԃO(@%/-Cw ;zc+y0]ּz6, ㆍwHgQP7A?{q~>KvUA G{ AH}okgKKQv.!Qd|5oEǘGAOҦ]x>6RPsRʍEj"j$2}i𣟥2i{0b[UAU hxZD38mLm.THV0}H_֠&Ȧ%.*hlUG*zU( m@ f) ojhZ3*Wێ\#=TØ>IEqr> m30<|?hfȶڲ2d` f>Ӷ 1A%>aE,O|ҔlPOU( 4.8vSrs8)ۏ4Q@y p:f)0%zמ=hs&8$=袀岩 6@\Ex/z\ aEy$j( A (›z(aT2>'󢊤&UiNQWdM'ӿ·h # i[PO#CӇW7o YyE¨@AiG~(΁m'mʑ^ma$tnvgzBjouVys2~cI @71-̜*_,e㊚#WEvQn3XzfQH@ACܖ)+UWw6'c!l{Sݥ՟E{cG ^+v ( ( ( ( ( ( (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. is 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 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 best qualities of each of the following Olympians he has trained.  Ken Patera was the absolute strongest, Bruce Wilhelm [the first American to snatch 400 pounds] trained the hardest, Thanh Nguyen had the most natural talent, Ken Clark had the most determination, and Mario Martinez [415 snatch, 513 clean and jerk and a silver medalist in the 1984 Olympics] had the most success. <br>In addition to developing new talent, Schmitz was also able to rejuvenate the careers of many lifters who had suffered slumps. For example, Tom Hirtz s lifting had stagnated for several years until he came to Schmitz. Hirtz went on to eventually set an American record in the snatch of 342 pounds at 181 pounds bodyweight. Mark Cameron, already an accomplished lifter, moved to San Francisco to train with Schmitz for five months and soon afterwards clean and jerked 501.5 pounds while competing in the 242-pound bodyweight class. <br>One quality that sets Schmitz apart is that he has been able to work especially well with super heavyweights, having coached three of the four Americans who have clean and jerked 500 pounds. In addition to coaching Patera, Wilhelm and Cameron, he also coached John Berg