JFIFC    $ &%# #"(-90(*6+"#2D26;=@@@&0FKE>J9?@=C  =)#)==================================================" }!1AQa"q2#BR$3br %&'()*456789:CDEFGHIJSTUVWXYZcdefghijstuvwxyz w!1AQaq"2B #3Rbr $4%&'()*56789:CDEFGHIJSTUVWXYZcdefghijstuvwxyz ?Ԇ=J#E80+y0G4@XZod;#*N ztk!mF#B).13ɘt F>d'~ԠpsJTಟ›yBj9XVtڇ֕c ^dzf!cދuR{ 3P#Hjb O_͜I4 QqciP[0P2?#LD"uF}i#ҥ i.p0x⊥~Ps=|*bBt(R袊XEIA,p?JvUH悠EYiP7Q*uT EP;yNw/SG*g_Ϋl)DhDžilʟ^?ڠ08zb$  ,-{Ԋq:zcQ=jtf<ElNRNfYFt\b`'-RN[OԦ@#*, <Œb(#ujbԎ<J5(f#p4Zd?.3^ЀBjDpA;S~xRy挏jCA}*9'* iL3';Q1<(VBĜ~2u~G"pp)ʄ`xc4!oݟnk6CZrRg#-zښ(&,:W䁟ƚU2r>ZxJs&X3A'%he<?Zx DH<U 1@GzҤp: @I pqL)- 0XaS8| + T>34=#9Т'ˎq֫$8KK}#һ-^lFIXYW*G֠Tv]="-ck9O+Y>SUC ;ZmBXf#^g(Av!Nh6: vr(NFMJ|#=(#أ*g¹m`A {Ejbf U+մK[wbwF32O+24n{`L4K0:ݦLG@5e=~t(sX**Esڀ!ba{jZずOnИ1E),6; \G\Q }(H#枉> ޤ^FH B7O@84c hxUKDactG_#"XX" df.mFz:://J6dvsMq& Gl%]-ݘ%Ia+ߌkj=a< =zZݘo}+KVׯm9p2h쌣ʙznJTc=S`7g#rƣXͤJIuy+_qWηm$v=hz;1]mc]l[*GBzU ǎ{T3_%ecLy sʓ*]ÚCR3ިXyx}N?m[ 'Vm)u(ˏF?N@J $JAkֶ#Q?:k8g"W.OEAW[^>9F`  滫 \O%ӆC(\yF jM+3ͥ8 4;4 CT`⾎}L`FW8+5_;Cs$ckHJ7O8_ A^*;S99wQ.x&_ajC*(jT]Q@W=/_OVV=)a E#ZP n#r@.^?HN9S9Z̈́q)IP{RWMRJ5V_Bͽ°:^r3+ 6'k61D'9ֹ命Z|N2^ڀ:yPkoΖuMryaX%@co[xWc^E6Q\$[ܚPKcSlu߇ot-&Au0~': 3lkbFKXFkLGP@ L⥣4b`[+ '}+-i x.A?N뚡z_ބva9?ZGO0[y?αOZN\йd+69~0F;=GQҺnadG㞽) LIzc>ր OkkuP>d>^xRzW Tu93J%B q$N:.|/{۠BZWi BGb+ +Y;}0i35ov{, Nm=i\~̦ wpF)g=@s9|>*ӕ+ rMx6a>u%-ђXtnءzҸ^]KBkأ}l7uZ_SE:UC$W\ 2Zp~T0xP? E{˘S$ҰTU=|{ i" 3ˇ:a\¯kp@EUPR$ vt+z(d@IPOQL@PiU݉<tR9'>tW2uNg^K*UؐDU$TP+DvO`x8g:fؽ$ G]٢H68-3;? U]w1DM֩\dxk:5̶hbrH U3"ݼw8ROqRx]'eC3_ϽfA]+MiO]}:׳hšmiv:ƇkdIϊ⽷ye"99,;Jc dQЀyCjeaԌo֦{|ѕ=R6uoꮤb/42&1cZ+"myOBADzpP{t{D` 8k>!܅K%HH;g#I؁R}ŶNrhTYn^/S0%nkĘ $zW=ܾІ8 ].XBGY۩XOݕ%mQlT:[=\,;(21{G=IL'mOoQ]gSMu884S)lyHt' `~Ο@ҹԜ ĚJi^7~ۆpMĂ8!P`=) } *;X)~ G=:Yr^ZQ ӭ{Rti$ ]C#Vy",B a\W32}Reo40t2`S+H`7\ W 5$DtU:K=OZU8[T`ܯ;" c ̽V66Zw7_˽;FVx仸ƹGv{(.U'բ}Sz9.qHWѫ闗vc4Yװmkh'$dFĶ1('*y^ROws6YbҴϱ3yYde 86,C`C~0GH+{WpB[ Z 1G d_u\XNcsê"jCd;T'jn/NxCƶ"z ^>O]K7yC:# {漳_ +^43c1W!R)8g7L$0{O·vESW ǦGI+%>e[+tif»"/;g<*F~zI/vܟ2 qךoGdEFCձMUpt{z/7ည6'I&%d^qq&u{MCL;UrQ,~@bGP2\/M<׉pƐ*__cڇg%v=RUJmy6`JN1\\=ԭLz\nY/jH9 oLd 8FZY RN1۷4vP6qԦ'F9XOf0 D:z玔Ld8FLl@K'HA{ Âv?J -BkAi2ñ]Kt;ר#z/]DkU]0E )!)X֙WI*m|f6\3Ӟ PTW֘5ຍuC7$}_Z[+Io6>{|WD4z޳;Ԗ5=' Usix6K$V KtĀʧy.9ɞrk7ŠoVR26sE]f)]uE;R4nԻx'4Oiyqi:M r~5 ź,7n6?xjEʜg6MI a?CX+2MbL>ʼ2d5$;λO#ð-™8iWjsמ֤lp1]سc$^ۋ" EסgksFҮٕ[vn =kИ_<$LzNg/=.F |QAVoRG̓YJH9*Fi$ rTZ~+C' Ĉ-SjВ A鵳^JRϷTHÜ:CtHiw1SQt 7iz.LysqOa=hn.M1آv Vm甹FUnA\ JOS8hfX!<<\I]dx6C]r|ORO֒*,6 EV#X [GnԡG*}((@zf Ku@6l_[dT 9ÿ4?>~e^ ں2v;'m챊FӞ+|)yĖsfy]=λ];eFszV̳a9VVu)+3Ju9]:>"S#n00nJӧc`vtm>&{.mrвeI5V7`GxO9SgTgoLtR۝229eiKH`3ĞVݓe=W.HeGo)J::ɘo2A)9'Gvq$F-]ىjZ8Pݔp?VK #=j;0fXkR$cNAIOTC'?ZE?NW:Opn#v_]qXQk4m !B@VnIJ\S(xj> 2Pz5rW?δh 5X1'H>Rl8 zOw;vL2A\cpqOoz@ ǭ 6”s@tcB@ Ҵ_d9S`޳t+1#8_, vRa(/3HÔ0:r;T"ɀY`OX܀iy\S$t^F i&Є6la*]Vy[jy7WUFPc+ Mrj/ jW,oc`쳫*V[i;KX!~gGNj>,v=}AlzOS\ċw7xT2Z#\N3Vn7ZO-҂+OW`N>`vڱBy!ԟC 8QJPe8Ҁ![ҕY|\yh,Ik.ZⴋЖrC '8&?PS-{};z R^9# 9:b3SEC@(4toMY<ݺW3_)UU\9*5lh[̼n8QEp:ŘќR;QZEgFE/Q^aG=h[V (j?S295R{E:(?erform 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 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 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 just can 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>Iystem and he had lost 30 pounds. Kevin went to physical therapy with the goal of playing in the homecoming game which was still a month away. These goals came after the doctors, who to this day stillme to Schmitz. Hirtz went on to eventually set an American record in the snatch of 342 pounds at 181 pounds bodyweight. Mark Cameron, already an accomplished lifter, moved to San Francisco to train with Schmitz for five months and soon afterwards clean and jerked 501.5 pounds while competing in the 242-pound bodyweight class. <br>One quality that sets Schmitz apart is that he has been able to work especially well with super heavyweights, having coached three of the four Americans who have clean and jerked 500 pounds. In addition to coaching Patera, Wilhelm and Cameron, he also coached John Bergman (396 snatch, 496 clean and jerk) and Tom Stock (391 snatch, 490 clean and jerk).  Superheavys have to train a little differently because they have big bodies they re lifting as well as the big weights, says Schmitz.  Their recovery is different and for a lot of them there are differences in their flexibility and their speed. I ve been lucky to have the supers that I ve had, but with two Olympians in the lighter classes (Cantore and Nguygen, who both weighed less than 150 pounds) I ve proven I can coach these