JFIFC    $ &%# #"(-90(*6+"#2D26;=@@@&0FKE>J9?@=C  =)#)==================================================" }!1AQa"q2#BR$3br %&'()*456789:CDEFGHIJSTUVWXYZcdefghijstuvwxyz w!1AQaq"2B #3Rbr $4%&'()*56789:CDEFGHIJSTUVWXYZcdefghijstuvwxyz ?I}_Se\+9jƿk)Gi{g`|:W%|SiJw.G{ېxZŨޤQs\ؗ|cSB\ !~EBjSçZ۹hfFGz]KvUA5IszIvXrݬGO4ջzj,5iq"[sםV0 viqnH Ҷ`/D㌒9ql+J-oUh yz::[~^ /,$'QOZ Ht%R=Wp=zw0Ny5|GӮ6"]KO 59sx.U#HϑLmƩ5?.=~FHLoNt/}R_QN g-|4UAG@j&𞤧Z,Z#IƤ>_G#u`> ӿ?t;.o#פQJEi/b?NoD> .p剄Mڒ61)7c~UAjwu<^,F 鞣f,2FjMbrVu|Ċ #$֔ԣӍySPbm̓4\zך!5%[Jc7i3c7AL4!<.XZ&vqoe3X\l™Y-^@Ǧx0rzsq5i}.FHr9أOù5OX8"Pu V'{ 1@~yjzݭ%]rv#Ma'=icY4N$+0 h%$m.6Ǿr+nQ. k}EURSfCٙ{'8K_WRa^E(hYas]|[MIwx@qR[*ljCXc HZɾlW*V賰VBqҊjP]قy,ig 湹to[d-*srSajeأky$s5n22lzR QE7$ VC!=kBl9Ei#Ͷq(`xcP[Lq]Ḧ+[X␬Cqr+As+2/Yטĥр$ҵ5{ ne NFe?l Pɟg?޶|15$J3r:n})rҺ!h98$?z"JŘɫ$ 'ND+;k_Lz屬[eF#4T+KfmyKdһ i"=k(^^Gw*뙜vvE cqYcSYz]8<)utw)=[Wgȸ&&N(򫛺rqGտpH5+yyعt [^fj 2zUmF.1^C¯]?| oj˫$|VV u6hڡ" \ΤŤP5a܎3)0&U䳕w?ׁ4E>r/Ҵujf֒×2~o>_%dSVco)=w''Z{s1T'^{>Ior и9ek q![X!~؞u1ħ#xC\$,͒OOJ#S3.Ζ}TLK] En 9YCғ`%&F2q^Zhm\ֻ(p*~$6#cHswS1%)#"y*%쎣ZZH+pXލwTMQ,ƪ_.mTcsnCTL-ㅁ/z l5[}'dD UPJ}*R,EJT{ Te-P\\Og{WH\Ro2*:#3+-->n>n{ 5pqr:;hlmWmg:V[pDA=ϰZo) Mg^nH8P`҉˕&NB;ۏZ"l݉WjmRY&zQV>nk{\i"fYC8KX ߇~W1U*we7ec(寊tdy(œ8s\d3ҽㆊ 9Ѻ~G׎@R^!MO#`J]B19]ԂqO>ԉ q BCLE=q)Xw=30xSMskacqHlN}Hh0)$ǰ6Ѱ:A_i=N:u=hԾ/XqtWKvvc| tyƣyyߛցn3]=o@jL0 ]9rxkхNz_ƨkZڼ˺];}kz$ n/8Xd sԮ۲$G Ubizz#Sb#[:`5bSF>\mPk!V[rc## UJjHJ+VFQ<5c`"EWh:m|ѻ vaVUm6%xAګ6Fs½.lf'dK 4ASiIN=|AT rWx+߿h|Y!O-', T9^:ԣ.(d:UŨضG+{mH.>[H8X I2ħ.GfsG ܺ+f#QkcO#1zQGo6IdRV1`}{8"bw\><*鷇@Uvhְ+:' sr_S(rta\5" խDOYӭJ-Y991{8# 鎤dz{e7QS5s7쯀 yT+Il2=}ju33-=>>dD70&ԎyVYrU#A +ZķPJ4H8ɭh1`?dbGV#D5]vIFzTv:ֵAO(ƹȾ7̞R:Wz\?ݣiEp~%s9c}E9&gcۮu1m)Q KokEk2[H{k~0> R$R{;xuuF}6WD`X|uך7^5s#3w׫81'BI.<1#|}'sRw`Fbd ḍS~5G0;Sdɱ0<ԫ^ 0] sHFcP'؞(M*˱I5+*M˴AաHţ"x*jBbہMF0 zǟ‹ʻ uJPq[Q8وGM 3)9>Iv"7#\hKcbqЕG#=څ0!,>֋ߨZ"/? r1 KL7#js=9"\!wZR]Z{6P< g8Yʸ?+_57xk(0E$#O~kY$+ ~#^Շr`sLy#*j0%#°iYr\dިD {6{i& w)c85\9\j(> 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 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 slver 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 liftin