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PM͹m]oX_Lt}5DկIݷ VTVsD$NkVÍ~̘\u7HfmnffG-^EŜ/'S*K= myy-VEݕWBs?,HyVr,<<Ϸ?q?ڗ735˶R-#I3jrY|W\>Z;e' ?^]jQ4<r\Y|?j_yq7= S $V<;q\OpP)8&ɷ2F (ֺ5?d h)`VؤnXvur3GE\Hx_o6'ڜ!fߕ+8IR#KHaV14@r; io̕M#=vʹ Gү%ݔX͟U+ao-L p9$}jnJv7̅Vo+# e#Oɧm\iWHeUk*X7lv.ku㚏ixM=8اkr׽|k}sc X_6򫶞"-.<俸RX=j{sT{XƪT WJǪZ *sOerO7ߑqh mS[, = w~"3yT.Ս(jW8j*5j(?5 ī 1n谎~(FW ȠaK1 QEK#:](T`׵|#`HNmq1$1tQCs_<|H4_FJZ([ʰt؊(Hz` zERGJp\(юNH4QNWWd`P#: VYRH^HֽV=x(Z ̒26WF2OEE (American to Olympic press over 500 pounds (505.5). Man weightlifting experts believed that Patera had the best chance of any American lifter to defeat the famous Russian champion Vasily Alexeev. Unfortunately, an injury kep 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 of363 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 thnk 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 justcan 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 dveloping new talent, Schmitz was also able to rejuvenate the careers f 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 81 pounds bodyweight. Mark Cameron, already an accomplished lifter, moved to San Francisco to train with Schmitz