JFIFC    $ &%# #"(-90(*6+"#2D26;=@@@&0FKE>J9?@=C  =)#)==================================================q" }!1AQa"q2#BR$3br %&'()*456789:CDEFGHIJSTUVWXYZcdefghijstuvwxyz w!1AQaq"2B #3Rbr $4%&'()*56789:CDEFGHIJSTUVWXYZcdefghijstuvwxyz ?*SrA9%HcQiv ynOOOX9閖yy W_&mԁwĮԟHiu8Q` ciP:nFWh9o;\|IyZC-6r0 w&Y)d d?79Rp?9K/[H)&GHpA}ʟVXq]qs)]vOum2b \QOay>mFRȌqpRG@1ɌpѠZCd sңb}xh~#M3<±}5uhXF RXlx\ Wy9OkL@ch#l %Fjlk4Hc}.X7(&Mpnm)Mf(D !FU * X'gG8WG5Zt,"8=HlU⚵dG.q\+ZiѲb,osK>FW"/scW\8j_\iv[rHXkq $o N3b9DH?7h%wc;=sbO϶͟Ϲ z`R]G?s_n:Sfd1xxvb3,"-g#$5$Aicpv!H2@V ߆yᴖo/"pZu+G7ep3Qw^R692r+tj-u'*đ汵]ntUIFj+"g'[_Q@2\[F`1Xm9Uc3@2@u=}}j7Vαvll/oAwoᔴQL ZL9Τ-`b\a_s YfFT{ QϔO#k4o^GSIz 9 g4Vzn֑-n/hsoZ17F +s,~&(BK lZBap|+ :dqR"]4qZyaF`P{Z{Vouio-I| T֨Td&hLqܟAWnK@%6T*Y,0p1֬gzd[q !G?JL^yOP;YvFhޢX&ءK0L AZui.#$PoÖڳVB$0qo?2>rZckyGNlb |$k]VY'ˉD=@c5FrvTt IZPnX :c7ħ5eMKQqw>Gie4mdnZ{n };XHp(&[=2/i}LH`q Ohs0-Dh LYT]G@?c\x >p9I5F=Q8&$4`4Ԝ0;Uv[m.md-ʸ>hu"'D~w\zڳР&sh1;uG'oθD>([ BC ;Cjxo6r[EyNrʸ9bá%gXjkY.ۻ1j_ЮoQn-o[ dz%id g4>vGJm_Ʋvס >m..t7dҫi^Nk0p=FȂG8Rԧ>󴂹>ئI(uj9t[؈ȊL VŞo$9 f\v,Z2`W(GaqZ)8oigEU%8-QI&٪sR(s,*/$C{ #z(P8=D۶֚1Tb;9;[bv r3yg7.~5C";pAsY6~GqpSjMB?1/Նj*Ɠov k>[yo.)p9=o"Ω,{]FJQJm"ascɕw[8ܔ%ຸerߏZ`vdT7&+5#q+ydf^jZ$*F"(xwmt=Y8?\DI~]Dv CY4i%0qS?Ph9 BO85(&=ju3N#1'S ̲UrsQ;u0GmG:}ޝbH?;R[`IdSé"k#"4I84 ? =JW,:$qk MPԃAásصF]N]Ɏ ;O ^c]ĈT0)BڲxtV4))3E~"ۘP}HkP*6*k'RRݖ)\Sp#ڊ+8n?T|L%8Nԯڊ+S[JzI+ԦE(gaǚQEy>&wSQ<tRREb#=*'(VEUin 1968, Schmitz became a co-owner of Alex s Sports Palace Gym in San Francisco on Mission Street. The gym was a hardcore, free weight facility, or as Schmitz says,  The Sports Palace was a triceps and biceps, squat and bench, snatch and clean-and-jerk type of gym. It had two lifting platforms, but when Schmitz came on board there was only one member who practiced competitive weightlifting, Walt Gioseffi. Gioseffi and Schmitz became good friends, and Gioseffi helped Schmitz learn many of the finer points of the classical lifts: the Olympic press (which was dropped from lifting competition after the 1972 Olympics), the snatch and the clean and jerk. Schmitz eventually reached a level where he could Olympic press 281, snatch 275 and clean and jerk 347 at a bodyweight of 200 pounds.<br>As Schmitz s training knowledge grew, so did the number of Olympic lifters and potential Olympic lifters interested in training at Alex s gym. One of the first was Dan Cantore, a future Olympian and American record holder who peaked with best lifts of 281 in the snatch and 358 in the clean and jerk at 148 pounds bodyweight.  Cantore and the other lifters who were now training 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