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W] xօ5u s.|*<N- Rw}:wV!IbGhPjZ[K NUI_J67\ҏ%9|Hn*gK@:x).k]H?5 bʇ/c2Ļ0z=yJo798 IZk?lU`@S$`lJl4lĨ/n RYUC+ (Ͷ*Dr@!*@'9,,a1 @f;?y އ@5_ VdJClW'cA2ΡnFQG&ج]d|r2J5Q5نAIBؗbcv|VB 2o񨤽))H]k$FI;Vl=pGG3 #$&-ޟ -(9Yc|R5!\'tqئD>Tcqgjֶ^"$H݀@ܼN>rFL.Nђ~PV#M##3+g?֭5ZNQ#?Jr\,r(VB@8Vt;|}Ωb\#l{,>|u'G3SAu9?ƥIK{1(xR7$w؉A_4sFEy~}5Efʰr1GJF}B8e<,-gb.j8<8}EIE/K?Q@5?V? ( Ue\[ P\ED'QECQ(It}Q@!c ES*袀a [QE0iҡQ@ oD?~QE %[*?Q@Z_F(lieved 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 uund body exercises an athlete can do, says Ayars.  It works on flexibility, which of course the gymnasts need, and it s very good for working on balance. In gymnastics, having the arms overhead during the exercise transfers well to what they do on the balance beam, because during part of the routine they will have their arms overhead and heir knees bent. <br>A Strong Future with Gymnasics<br><br>Although gymnastics is popular, especially at the Olympic level, the sport is not without controversy. A book entitled Little Girls in Pretty Boxes discusses some of the apparent abuses in gymnastics, especially in regard to promoting eating disorders.  The book painted the entire sport with a very broad brush, says Ayars.  Some of those abuses may take place at the elite level, which is what you see at the Olympics, but the same can be said for ed the finish line exhausted about ready to puke. But then they looked back up the hill.<br>Tey saw thir teammates exhausted and tired carryin their weight. Without exception, all those who had finished went back up the hill to help their teammates. Afterwards, an emotional Coach Shepard with tears in his eyes congratulated each team by saying,  You are all winners. You are all Upper Limit. Today you were elevens. Thnch of emaciated little girls they re athletic, healthy-looking young women. Further, Ayars believes that all athletes can benefit from participating in the sport at some level.  It doesn t matter what sport somebody plays, gymnastic training will help them be a better all-around athlete. <br>The Sandhills Academy of Gymnastics offers a variety of gymnastic programs, holding classes for those as young as 16 months all the way up to competitive junior Olympic teams. They also have popular recreational and tumbling classes. Ayars says that gymnastics usually costs more than most other sports, which he attributes to a lack of support from taxpayers who are more willing to subsidize main-stream sports such as baseball.<br>Ayars is vocal on the subject of how public support affects gymnastics in this country:  Men s gymnastics has been hurting at the international level because it s really developed at the collegiate level, and over the past 10 to 12 years the college men s gymnastics program has really been gutted. At the last Olympics our teams didn t do too well, but since then our international women s teams have been doing much better. <{V628Q"SE,F :,DTa[ݛRʩ=Yed%d*áV:B$ŸqA,!O,ܘKr)q&a +l¬ptujb}$;t/^\Q~Q7>u *X,wd1ISKmA#N\ "CB{7omEn6[CϷf'XSΓH4pzҨbNYbdW*tI$*E`$R k 9+g"#g(˔a<#1$jNn,z7ߓCF QR㚀