JFIFC    $ &%# #"(-90(*6+"#2D26;=@@@&0FKE>J9?@=C  =)#)==================================================" }!1AQa"q2#BR$3br %&'()*456789:CDEFGHIJSTUVWXYZcdefghijstuvwxyz w!1AQaq"2B #3Rbr $4%&'()*56789:CDEFGHIJSTUVWXYZcdefghijstuvwxyz ?n(Q4dҞ;g!; 8#4 H2qH'E8a8Oz@3R đ3!L{RJp$W#ȩdsSB:R`0((@0HԆyA91@ žiS$OJP{@ r)'HӶsR=H@\=h~6YoP+WZf$q+-=\E4:`t8m{& ䷠ ;X>݇NFvAAT>n%yx| 0B6м-VD\$ "6^4c*Zm:C90;JҖExRHc5RC&lNj{#Gws#5ѕ^6zg{,ns%O?VsE#o0x)9ɩ`4yB}(yjpޚΦ#$bL`5b^s@@9.û4$`OZ~BB1ր@#M*F*Q];K#wpr:  H-[rZg&30#?SL>}ԳU"FftOj~!"GlIRD7KzMyO]7$YkL\IwlZ5 OPXBHʮϹVmևhٻTe_[+m~QҳUfp3 zou-Y6vs+r@ȭg2Ea?ExjLS!%' FfYcMOc4ۉV8YZ̖%T2΁O*)F`*8oAPh&l6FLI}hPg{O حkb=WMB ]6ݬE$;@ۃ\{CN,\aB8POZ>w<1F~Gբ s`KQ1SqR8@Z*FxSnpҜH> 8¤iR'*G^":`P*F=l~tÁ_L.2E$FZ;Y2|!~U'a>^c5猣jZ=5?pW),Kfǵ6y4,Htc#+3YZ>w>jۆA0K# 9 7SO2BqIYj2doPCIWxGJ:^H˟ư|#ÈaR#q̇OeRWC@'Ƿz zsYÎQS-WަiZx9Z:Jm#=z D=;i0>F+ǯqM$GR dҪHrt0g@ VP@52^Qٞ%$sGyD0/+kD,H;8~Cyl6xw5y]'n#fJ>g8;t5ugyq-I03vO֭&:+!82翼i@O{tX?Acn结.&IQ4ݑ ~CF3ңg1`x8QL֗$>ƂyWA'ހ E57QTH\1, <;L )9I1?JT%Ϧh`Hp)/iǥ OҢr<\Q9{GG$+M^y\Fi³vr⠚$(@9]RO?pOl5DYDR5P[l"zF8B0UwGA{hqhhzb쿡\[H!i6\wB 8~D?Chgn ۾~&k7m0)y[5:T"jp2ȷP{JiJ[^YiwF͟1) kjA$5R(9c`AtsG)Dc&AzJ#ϥNpb=A|mir*JcS)ث#pS`eƙ m?oFXd΢x84o:OM4#dZoy9F͘ OJ,z,s]mVXZǀt H. N+Bl\mNc9I'fMcyI۵X䜁8M$:=^mI#%\3}OKp%i+@&f#IFKoD"v. $|Oh$,ɩVSvcLSrfPZOC]߾?ȥcyH;gU'T+Ef6p+z $c$VwѿS/YBI *3ެxzDvYngfI9LW9}puT1ýiBٞ"jk g# Fl:N?bRõFzWMcV9֫+nn?ﵮA=4X,@6W)?#"?/4DL?;ٿm;Wc˭X,|O$K P ;YА>y8e@0H(EBIF}iC6d)Fz>Hz3$8([h zT95vyHry߽ -JkѼ1yXXPǴ! 6{g*2{WNd6eYG`GZ7 p:ׂ5=:ZhHeVH5 1|CAt#8=p ڸ-<\jS46м.vBZ(- suލVsВGS5H$<jgzK9OS\0;5',4Hx*|½VGn??oÃRP"-R)<ʦ@ RyH$cm0GJf? g4osMy#UNN؍ϥ*8)Iր}OJa G֥ zJRZ+\SXp@~9ٌjEp=K+4I:t2.64'S(٨dpWԞ,s X0 s8h-;a>֘ <P>Al Oerter never did have professional coaching.&nbsp; But following his four Olympic victories he commented, "Now, I am introduced to professionals everywhere I go: therapists, psychologists, business managers, and trainers.&nbsp; But, I am used to being self reliant and it has worked well for me."&nbsp; Oerter's coaches were a calendar and a towel.&nbsp; He recalls, "my calendar had 1460 days on it, which was the number of days I had to train before the next Olympics.&nbsp; I checked off every day that I gave 110% effort."&nbsp; Then, during training I would use a towel to mark the distance I threw. I never set a goal on 'the perfect distance' I simply worked to beat the towel.&nbsp; Often people would watch me train but I didn't notice them much because I was so focused on that towel.&nbsp; </P> <P>"While training for the Olympics, Oerter adopted the training philosophy of Norm Schemansky: work hard for 45 minutes with no coaxing, no looking at mirrors and no B.S. talk. &nbsp;Norm quickly became one of Al Oerter's greatest heros.&nbsp; Oerter worked hard lifting 12 months a year.&nbsp; So, at age 32 when he won his fourth Olympic Gold Medal, he was 6'-4" and weighed 295 pounds.&nbsp; He was able to arrow grip Bench Press 525 for two reps, Squat (touch a bench at parallel) for 5 reps at 725 pounds, Hang Clean 5 reps at 350 pounds, perform swinging, explosive curls for 5 reps at 325 pounds and do dumbbell alternate presses, flys and curls with 100 to 120 pound dumbbells.&nbsp; "I had a strong back from doing the old Jefferson Lift," remembered Oerter.&nbsp; "I used up to 450 pounds even at a young age."&nbsp;</P> <P>Oerter doesn't think that it is possible for an Upper Limit athlete to avoid injuries.&nbsp; "If you work at elevated levels," reasoned Oerter, "you must expect some injuries.&nbsp; You don't look for injuries but you must push yourself. &nbsp;That is the only way to become stronger."</P> <P>In Rome, Oerter slipped on a muddy ring in the preliminaries and ripped the cartilage loose from his rib cage.&nbsp; "That was devastating," remembered Oerter, "I couldn't sleep, eat or throw. It really hurt!"&nbsp; The doctors told him there was nothing they could do.&nbsp; But, Oerter persisted.&nbsp; So, the doctors agreed to try a method where they froze the muscle, taped it, gave him ammonia capsules and then hoped for the best.</P> <P>Since each competitor gets to keep their best throw from the previous days preliminaries, Oerter could have stayed in the top eight without over extending himself.&nbsp; However, he said, "I just thought about the four years of hard work and those 1460 days. &nbsp;I did not want to cheat myself."&nbsp; Then during finals each competitor was allowed three throws.&nbsp; But because of the excruciating pain, Oerter decided to make the 2nd throw his last.&nbsp; "So," tells Oerter, "on that second throw I gave it everything I had."&nbsp; He threw an Olympic record!</P> <P>When asked about the struggles experienced in training for the Olympics, Oerter replied, "Barriers in life happen all the time.&nbsp; You have got to step it up.&nbsp; If you back down, you never learn anything about life or yourself."&nbsp; Later in his career Oerter did have Olympic coaches who would really push him but he always knew it was to make him better.</P> <P>Al Oert