JFIFC    $ &%# #"(-90(*6+"#2D26;=@@@&0FKE>J9?@=C  =)#)==================================================" }!1AQa"q2#BR$3br %&'()*456789:CDEFGHIJSTUVWXYZcdefghijstuvwxyz w!1AQaq"2B #3Rbr $4%&'()*56789:CDEFGHIJSTUVWXYZcdefghijstuvwxyz ?Vz̟C匉nu5XJ1'Y!DI{m[x?ƒnss.#|tá9R@ ]f7ͽJ+~jx[##a> uc=VKk1eT&\q⇆tf@[ĶB)T3ҹ/wL!B0 -8(ٛ9^?>8/^ ihDPUx$+QUL+J]7o/)"F=\Լ?,dr1 "3;˿jkgfQ74Ԛ(~ ZA˾xX.W؎y?YKaZL du{P,QQ* *[vGZ4Q?#]ǂܵGψXzVEe*x[l5@'hkf鸽=QI=;J4/2Gr^-𾥮g;YV0"6T#9wA?Zc1s~s.4-yyF3ɮwz_$6.!?y}EQW 6bsrHDNA*paQ3PIj5!" ēW/, ne* QvO gZ Vg;I&\gt(((((+k+Ia%1Bt#g,p$V ܌ 톭-?x> +><zOd=iK#k46~uʼbĺ>m܀Nv~{=gmżr_B|,×?JJ2obmXfi*᣶[y'i[׶$H]t[r2/=0;U<vw :DF:TbQZ!sY6J5xE{g5j[%@+8[;9t"dx^ss\Ӽ)c f>MuQ/ҳ.i6\Ր(W5 b{Ռ#*<aי|o +0F7c VWRYܖ'=IQӜlu|zxϰH.P yz 0ǭX{'\ᕀ zc:ӣPĂ@q@v) tnk4p-TB?'a֘ P3Q@) \9t("NI48jshzw0H3`<YK /<#\ZeWeY":Qk-vd*N3WD׺JgdzT7h-{Qz&Q[Ivg\@HZ}ɶ]uڞ.R+qr}Ah+mzV[J B&{ cٌ;m;xRam[۩UCr~kÄn*3¶Oz;vT~a҅8 SmXh]?Fѐy8rTl'Qףsҵh58/&XGlGN+K{k|/o*&kb|0JiZ4mV-?JdM(!kH'OFSZ IyaS(l?PI#Hg `%+Eh,G4S`BsN8ݏm'𫖶,׵a0[qsVVUIvsݘ#ζR1Ro$J[@ 8$ 0B`_|WTHrzyz1{E?\Rv A \X tsKǕOg]\A`1VE%`Mqrjy77RSκ%$I,H0qҶdY\E.Z\($pkc7Qx'͏1Ͽ?ֵ^oo\rF·2RNZOa2 ܶq6K~8k,[ .lbLKcՏUuk=XwLK#rMS${WZi.Wbn##f6nokD.h~*UBU&u g'dI-)K:\ O""{ҺߊhFkYzԯ]X?ݻ╓ 9nM4y)Vҥ-zi]Mn¯+AUBpxZPNh; eG$daˎPάA U@#߽[ANVߓ#VM+"[=hv33H#wNz@mҬ#cTREǏJHmIv\0c$F$GTabH yHbR=(hX ْTf';)@XX7l}Z+%׎ \}q$ߏT䳒s#E+.WTGjlc3k$6&tS(ne ~Qd+UE, WghMKb~Χ|Ctc$VtJkM3AcEpR s5-\Q9ڬXLr%bCdGj<>}SցbH!s~R:'^3cBF*H#pEg-ƙkB dܟ67WMA"1sIT:7:5HWpXVI##'CWW=#LMݖȈ"fݍ[d8Grq\q%~S*Zni ~E; cN=^Hc?y$#Ј`@ubXt;rzޢgd ?xL"+dk)P_Jw';rp'N)RgHg^pz\/d#׏ZArbzw 2?¦҆[=2dYWvL C@A͸$w&=m24cA[vF@أ^~F#HfcQ}Z+YN[\i-3E"\uQdNgb[׵(lAS}1 ж-P]* n3ښ3άg_:ސv$f8gNltp9 .FT)֚ ;ul}^pp M=3 cEKP9ғhv2O S㓌(E8v4 } ( ⪘9֣YB֪sLFi!X`gȹ#m4uP\r68ŏJxqBJޕbS~9DXoSSED*x~(GM_QEIݩ_P NQS@;*EJ( ShTQE Ey>~5N^(@WESg at the Sports Palace were really good, says Schmitz.  I watched them, helped them at contests, and as the Sports Palace lifting team evolved I found myself taking on a greater role in their training. I really liked what I was doing, and began to realize that coaching was my calling so I just stayed with it. <br>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