JFIFC    $ &%# #"(-90(*6+"#2D26;=@@@&0FKE>J9?@=C  =)#)==================================================" }!1AQa"q2#BR$3br %&'()*456789:CDEFGHIJSTUVWXYZcdefghijstuvwxyz w!1AQaq"2B #3Rbr $4%&'()*56789:CDEFGHIJSTUVWXYZcdefghijstuvwxyz ?:%*S[uŠؔr/Z)c kFDBb*J#~u( Ǯ)cҀ*EҘ<1RT*~zLtLNtVrSO WXݪ xwOgB=?7j? dҜQjPJarl(ң @l+a1E{)ݽ vsD7a\6j/ƳACi'q0ӥ]$|Ȉ18 }*l( 0'QœOҚN=)cd@^kq{sK=)c0ϰDxiqŻ1v]OX.'ҭP2®c^UxUR@H:@k4m^[Ӗۀ~WC+XjWкҗJP7a=N+da(ٙGMh|+ ۗbh$\4W?qp'1cZZVS+k+b ub+{Z˝2(W͈61Q~C(ijr$<8<Zk }(}R9#d{rzS$&PvyҮ}2'.sEZi8éqyw8j sCFqT ?Gi_ӿ-3ősN]" D>in&qՏ~mR.n>G"iԂ[dNQ ݧ}XױW@lig"{ 0LhcO1u(pY'# B9\w76+g 66ќE#4Q}j8(K(ăT5HQOZ]-UWg펹ȉVW ݹT>$%{Yi:ѯOv>U;ǎȻ[jSmU2n Hz|N#).FWh93#?FgkuURf1o8\#e j RFp< zzH2P=f59r>SgJOThe first time Nelson competed in the shot put was in eighth grade, but he certainly didn t do much to impress his coaches.  Actually, I was awful! says Nelson.  There were five other shot-putters in my eighth-grade class, and I ranked numbe` =Of#`crk{יʆ9YHkni<3QG(!ܞ1ʾ=f+3IXlG- ajfEԱ)©J[ZYsIEE5?J)m~Ri}QK@ (NPSfKOE3ށK@(9ّ)*pA19J7֛[He went on to win the world juniors with a personal best of 60-2. His progress through college and leading up to the Olympic trials was impressive, as shown below:<br><br>1995 59-11.25<br>1996 62-9.5<br>1997 64-4.5<br>1998 67-6.5<br>1999 67-8.75<br><br>At the 2000 Olympic trials, on his final throw, Nelson won the event with a personal best of 72-7.0, which ranked him number one in the world by Track and Field News. He then captured the silver medal at the Olympic Games, and since then he has won two silver medals at the world championships and two year-end world rankings as number one. He also improved to a personal best of 73-10.25.<br>Last year at the world championships in France, Nelson placed second behind Andrei Mikhnevich of Belarus, who 19 days earlier had completed a two-year suspension for drug use. Nelson s response to losing to a former drug user is  As long as he s clean here, that s fine. He was tested during the whole suspension and was clean. In his defense, Mikhnevich said he tested positive for gonadotropin, a protein hormone essential to women during pregnancy and which is produced by the pituitary gland. He blamed the mistake on his doctor.<br>When the steroid THG was attracting so much media attention this year, three throwers from the US were identified as having used THG. Speaking at a conference sponsored by USA Track and Field, Nelson said that in the long run the scandal would have long-term benefits because elite athletes are