JFIFC    $ &%# #"(-90(*6+"#2D26;=@@@&0FKE>J9?@=C  =)#)==================================================" }!1AQa"q2#BR$3br %&'()*456789:CDEFGHIJSTUVWXYZcdefghijstuvwxyz w!1AQaq"2B #3Rbr $4%&'()*56789:CDEFGHIJSTUVWXYZcdefghijstuvwxyz ?+m0$Cl`y]OqJ{TsT\挩SP3[8烃Uv%zr^iWKG(RT 25mr^NWk~ ^u2q]_dhT>or%mV Z/BU'52(g/4N5.`W5|e ;T>q*wەuQ0P`za>!Je?1d'MK_xBGh.n磧:E!dF漚o^%nEeb_߈s>e=%cǩ?Cx_G L~|A&Nd`+ [Xgui>R8=+HYbH֦!L̃]D.3$ZhNۖu-YJm3D hhϩMddd_jGfem,[\dr1u 6G<` Ց:2? PEABq??Z+iUy9N4鄩•4Qu7P/핈*v}#ASF h2#g0! !)?"HGҏx.ɓ!>^ile m]x%qQO(Kf(\*ȓBhFwaKZG`x sԏxSwLKU((v-jЖq[~5hqdcKhjZ tG"98fx!@Gqg.K4U,[Z-ԈkR.4cY'E܎>]%Rݷ9yRsc 8jQz=RЃwL\]9]+7|,K`m!jl.g&)}jk'%"W<4H1Vq%m*vKF3[ ,*0H8]2QGbGZN7錅c+c ע|>Pa F#<1^MN+B#;{ѓhrFKj UȪ>o/$;Y-uDBCy Z~f{e;p 5O7wH)3pjd\)Rd4y$lg<%ٚ7m۶1+wFW@O0e.xsv݁+$_ַ۳ ҲE5 1 9 kԘ6I|cOfa^n(8Vqq(qQ2%dT5ifrl[kQe}tZ?ȜAGwtkb61n׬Ef5*11rkCdj ЎYCc,a0vW['\=A6{T 0:RttQ:-;&xTnAea1M ޟmf^(g5Ey80,`҃5)W풵zmp*FD mJ`f4&K&P. 6~5Z.hl֔e<|RsQ] /x$mw6x rL3ֽ[xVtq|9ڠj*UgU$4oY2SWHե6PdI)$"@fo/5oilJ"ujIs6j:qHhEt2ơ Y17dOrZ ˻+XX3Dj[\ƭI=Y@|ZSM8 gЗ[xF)nrGzҖ|m$-7mNR\u HtžZ*EپPg~{St˳}3\`Ղ7uNŻ4nxRFvYlB zg $mO8 (Auݟ^+XԲ!ӾlY6ZɌϱ]'hE$­ сaEdr^+[3&H<}+Koc5Nͤ#=9mfMܘirgB*rF,Sg-啧rV$=$+Jm-n2K) xO֯ID])#~5[ci"{{:z/Rٸ0zgcl>άt{|x&աYogQ?^:EJ)(SWMP126ҺIx5:5ۗv!*o׊}E#K3Z>%ԬZ}:\>ANg>ՓܼF8&6Qߍv:;8DXl5iV7D=!jݕ0 B%#kk\ S$B'Sp}}+z!]b/CZo5f4s5G̙X_V|=%đ~a V^ipA"f:C)QA=k SM婍Z8mI- RM!pxKz(0p>s^E%g-zYa@ Yj30>|eU6kB8"?[ scr3ou4J̸4HKjQ($d,@Isq0 6A`I9=NfZǘsEEf4W<ܛ5J(D{Ky4M}GzM ht|ҼV}bVNaH#xb@pz`W\G,5w;j|' z;=bT7K?_qoL, !~ֻ(5#!.9?{CSOOb@U W/Ces}y~F'~Tk~4ѭZgg5 gt7EeYSR\t{uڬa4jbiiV0LzVnM4rdS I$sƠʒy|bm5vdNȗRے6*\sVA-D~XV :`XeTEB>s[Vhq,l*1j%$dkkŗ;{uV?'gۘ.4F~?Yyɵv0s\͔T򥻞Ft^?hֆ4"ݔ v3%>ڣǙ!v1馕̍#j|;B}Zӣkk5Jyƫo4H}9>T2jRJb=Lo-9xeS٢7g-R47O9< ¤xKˢ7r2GW,kKvu'rlEOQY>v9t3lHhoOZ I](w>v?;oNÁ8wÁ봳 S"#;5کMDse36ʖ,`/kf'ZF`q^¶, P?Zi9yÐJHXcׯKϡpYEuhjtOGm.rFMrZHcYbonz+| Z\k{v#m#]>13@aICI2BJ)Vu -A{H\OZ}#`Nn/"'^2ۊVF{6cdȰ)N<ְluqhmcy%.בy=?aj`YH@zAtމ`x=Z&=F'\G_q[j{ љij$ 'rx^8oryZ54(R%?<ԏ$uד2E\1]9XԔar)J%9#%3Y5<0BsRϧJnd.TjHd$5uR?SS[(]!@'z}qk>`A >hY|]2j~.JnTa–Wk{d̫#e >ķ9-Os]mN,?Al}FdGg'mHFuVϰ^,[h}< uo\SZuܢ6,x:~֮58n&!39X΋Z'VڵL/dOJt 鿷`F|쌮qVt!bxU鼟F(S;'aOVzѭx`rIu%' =jڣr.# 5y-$%\)Tmlb3 8Lԍn͋m;波YH6Zw˨iv+""W dc?lrJFS#~5&~Ԡ@18:\j'bG|c+SBy'U}ndKtv88Ȩ؛Xs=ML-2yO5-v?WNT[FKtbz(ve5'4VRv4UO#Qd̖vu%HEot%YUm'Yt{IlZO6$"ZYX|Enq$ Ohvdxq^=<y3gW8M2@<Vlf>:)FхSr#F|g5{_eV3Z^xUyHb,Sa4.K&G"MJ"x,9S\vq7Z HhN~4R)ij[FʁY:֐|M0H\n4جy ޷ FdF#9o1.vnI \!Y-(3֭h7QBHFݹv)faplh0IOjk!pF pi$&ojiirShBU}p?`/+_1#uݷ =Yڗ0a M TUH O*k@\vsY%# [:n Zh9>P@׶Uy?zGb=h@n4ۅʶ0W{[na#*27JThe 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 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