Coach Newton's Notes

Men's Superheavyweight

2008-08-19T06:00:00.000-07:00

Tuesday, August 19

An unusual Olympic superheavyweight men's competition, to say the least. There were only 8 lifters entered. The lifter from Qatar did not weigh-in. Jeon (KOR) bombed in the Snatch, not looking at all ready for this level of competition. The entire session was over in less than 1-1/2 hours.

Chigishev (RUS) weighed only 124.13, a la Pisarenko 25 years ago. He snatched well, ending with 210kg. Udachyn (UKR) as second with 207. Scerbatihs (LAT) ended with 206kg. These 3 lifters made all of their Snatches.

Shymechko (UKR) at 22 looks to have a good future. He made all 6 attempts.

Steiner (GER), the eventual winner, missed his first Jerk with 246kg, walking off the platform. Chigishev ended with 250kg, so his Total was 460kg. Scerbatihs started with and succeeded at 242 and was put into the scoring system for an automatic jump to 244. His coach attempted to change this, but time ran out and they were stuck with the lighter weight. Scerbatihs simply sat in the back room and didn't come out for the lift.

For some reason, Scerbatihs jumped to 257kg, more than he needed to move into first place. He missed the lift and ended up in 3rd place.

On his second attempt Steiner made the minimal jump in order to total, then waited for what he needed to win. This was 258kg, a lift he successfully completed without a great deal of difficulty.

This is Germany's first superheavyweight win in a very long time. It's also the first time an American has not been in this class.

The program is due to air around noon today, probably on MSNBC, but check for confirmation. The previous plan of broadcasting this category live was wisely ditched, as it would have been a disaster.

Men's 105kg

2008-08-18T06:23:00.000-07:00

Monday, August 18, 2008

Aramnau (BLR) stole the show today, making all 6 attempts, winning the gold medal, and creating numerous Olympic, world, and world junior (according to the IWF) records. He ended with a 200kg Snatch and 236kg C&J for a 436kg Total. Only 20 years old, watch for this guy in the coming years. He lifted confidently and with excellent technique and speed.

Klokov (RUS) and teammate Lapikov (RUS) took silver and bronze. Klokov also went 6 for 6, putting on a great show for the crowd after his last Snatch.

These lifters pushed Poland's Marcin Dolega down to 4th position.

There were several problems in the back room during today's session. It looked to me like the locals had changed one key personnel position at the expeditor's (called marshall's in Beijing) table. The coaches had it right, but the call order and the attempt weights got all screwed up. This resulted in all sorts of officials trying to solve the problems in English, although none of them speak English as a first language.

It's odd to have problems like this come up on the next to last day of competition.

This session will air on MSNBC today about 11:55 a.m. Producer Jenny Nickell pushed for, and got, additional time for today's coverage. If you want to see more weightlifting on television, be sure to let NBC Olympics now this! They respond to your input.

Tomorrow's planned live Superheavy show is now going to be taped, which is the only way to do lifting. Live coverage just doesn't make sense, due to strategic changes, delays or changes in loading, need for commercial breaks, etc.

Men's 94kg

2008-08-17T06:55:00.000-07:00

Sunday, August 17, 2008

The men's 94kg class reflected some great competition. The 'B' session winner, Akkaev (RUS), made 6 for 6, ending with a 185kg Snatch (the category's highest), a 217kg C&J, and a 402 Total. This eventually earned him the bronze medal.

Winner Ilin (KAZ) appeared confident and ready to go. He appeared to tweak his left elbow on his second Snatch with 180kg, declining his third attempt. It seemed Ilin lowered the 180 prematurely, but he got three white lights. The C&J was a constant state of adjustment, as lifters took their shots at medals. Ilin ended with 226kg, totalling 406kg.

Kolecki (POL)gave it a good shot, ending with silver with 179-224-403. He couldn't stand with his final Clean attempt at 228kg.

The show will air this afternoon, scheduled for 2:30p.m. (EDT)on MSNBC. It's an exciting class; plan to take it in.

Only two days remain. Supers are scheduled to go live on Tuesday.

Women's +75kg

2008-08-16T06:48:00.000-07:00

Saturday, August 16, 2008

Women's 2008 Olympic Weightlifting competition wrapped up today with 11 lifters taking to the platform. Four segments will be aired on CNBC tonight at midnight, EDT.

Winner Jang (KOR) made all 6 attempts successfully. She did 130-136-140 in the Snatch, then started with 175 in the C&J. This attempt established a new Olympic record in the Total at 315kg. She then made 183 and 186, establishing new world and Olympic records on each attempt.

At 400lbs plus the bar bend is starting to get pretty extreme. Weights were attached all the way to the end of the sleeve (the women's bar is shorter,thinner, and lighter). Years ago, when the topic of a smaller diameter barbell came up (for men's lightest classes) I was told by YORK representatives that a smaller diameter (but not necessarily shorter or lighter) bar would permanently deflect at 125kg. At the time, I doubt YORK or anyone else wanted to invest in the tooling necessary to create thinner bars.

The women's bar is 25mm in diameter, the men's 28mm. As women approach 200kg in the C&J there may be a need to allow larger women to use the men's bar.

Opeloge of Samoa was impressive in her execution and nearly pulled off a bronze medal performance. A number of women had a good shot at third place, but the competition was so tight that only two lifters made their 3rd C&J.

USA's Cheryl Haworth finished sixth with a 259kg Total, failing in her attempt to Clean 150kg.

Men's 85kg

2008-08-15T06:04:00.000-07:00

Friday, August 15

USA's Kendrick Ferris won the 'B' session, making 5 of 6 and ending with an American record C&J of 202kg and Total of 362kg. As often happens, a number of bomb-outs and/or withdrawls during the 'A' session elevated Kendrick's placement and he eventually finished 8th.

Congratulations to Kendrick and coach Kyle Pierce. Kyle first introduced me to Kendrick in 2000, when Kendrick was a very thin, but explosive and flexible, young lifter at the national Junior Olympics in Orlando. I've had the pleasure of watching Kendrick progress steadily over the years and salute his efforts to get to this point. And Kyle tells me Kendrick plans to keep on going toward London in 2012.

Rybakou, as usual, put in a great Snatch performance, ending with an Olympic record of 185kg. He did well in the C&J, making three attempts to end up with 209kg and 394kg. China's Lu looked solid in the C&J, tying Rybakou's Total (and taking advantage of lighter bodyweight) on his second attempt with 214kg. But, as correctly called by NBC's Shane Hamman, Lu's left elbow buckled and extended. The referees gave it 3 white lights, but the Jury saw the obvious. They called the refs over, then reversed the decision.

Lu made the same weight on his third attempt, thus tying Rybakou and winning gold on lighter bodyweight.

The Chinese audience registered only slight opposition to the Jury's action, nothing like we would see in Europe. I give Sam Coffa, president of the Jury, credit for calling this one as it was. As we see in far too many US local meets, getting the bar overhead does not mean the lift is within the rules. Far too many lax calls are made by officials who seem to want to give the lifter the benefit of a 'break.' Follow the rules, that's the only objective thing to do. Everyone benefits in the end.

Men's 77kg

2008-08-13T07:53:00.000-07:00

Wednesday, Aug 13

The men's 77kg 'A' session finally produced a non-CHN winner, with Sa (KOR) putting plenty of pressure on China's Li. The snatches were exciting across the boards, but as usual, the Clean-and-Jerk separated the winners from the also-rans.

In the 'A' session, only 2 third attempt C&J lifts were successful.

2004 Gold Medalist Sagir bombed in the Snatch, missing 165 three times. The Turks have not looked particularly sharp at this Games (or at several major international meets of late).

Sa took a good crack at a world record C&J at 211kg, cleaning, but missing the Jerk.

Check out the broadcast on MSNBC this morning around 11:30 a.m.

Unfortunately, USA's Chad Vaughn bombed in the 'B' session with 183kg in the C&J after snatching well at 147kg.

It's odd to see so many uniforms having inconsistent enforcement of rules applied. Adidas stripes are being covered up, while other manufacturers' designs are ignored. Sometimes the name Eleiko on sox and wrist wraps are taped over, sometimes not. Seems the IWF and IOC could work with uniform manufacturers to present a more squared-away presentation. I don't see athletes in other sports looking like they're held together with athletic tape.

Men's 69kg

2008-08-12T07:34:00.000-07:00

Tuesday, August 12

China continued their dominance of men's lifting with a win by 20-y.o. Liao with 158-190-348. Teammate Shi was expected to medal as well, but he failed to appear from the warm-up room and the scoreboard reflected his withdrawl from competition. Word has it he had a lower back injury. He had been in 4th place after the Snatch competition.

Lee (KOR) looked strong and had my money for gold, but he failed to Total. His first Jerk resulted in a twisted foot/ankle which took him to the platform. He returned to make a partial attempt on his second, then pulled in, but dumped, 186kg on his final. At the press conference Lee stated that he'd had a cramp. Our crew first called it a cramp, but checking the playback it looked like the injury could have been more serious.

France's Dabaya-Tientcheu snatched well, ending with 151kg. He eventually placed second and seemed pleased. Although called out to 'go for the gold' with 197, his heart wasn't in it and neither second or third attempts were actually lifted.

Have you checked out the online coverage? Check out www.nbcolympics.com and follow the lift-by-lift details. It looks like Chris LeRoux (www.weightliftingexchange.com) is working as the moderator and fielding questions. USA's Woolfolk and Gump put in good performances in today's womens' competition.

Men's 62Kg

2008-08-11T15:30:00.000-07:00

Monday

One of the oddest things I've ever seen on the platform happened today in the men's 62kg. Figueroa (COL), favored to do well, couldn't maintain his grip (right hand) on the bar with his three snatch attempts at 128kg. This included repeated efforts, some above the knee, some below, within a true, called 'attempt.' Frustrating for everyone. Later a few more details became available.

According to reports we received through NBC channels, Figueroa and the team had been training in Bulgaria when he sustained a hand/wrist injury of moderate concern. Supposedly treatments were received there and acupuncture was to take place once he got to Beijing.

Whatever the case, he sure seemed incapable of maintaining a grip with his right hand.

COL training in BUL prior to the Games, eh?

Ji looked great in the Snatch with 142 to eventual winner Zhang's 143. But he was totally incapable of locking any of his power/squat jerks overhead. He's got the pull figured out, that's for sure.

Zhang performed well in front of his hometown crowd. Looked good for a bit more in the Snatch.

Five bombs in this class, lots of lifters starting heavy (after all, it IS the Olympics).

For some reason, NBC is not covering the women's classes at this stage. We'll have the +75kg class, but you'll need to check elsewhere for results and impressions.

Day 2

2008-08-10T18:45:00.000-07:00

Women's 53kg

Melanie Roach turned in a great performance, making all 6 attempts and increasing her USA Total record by 0.5kg (assuming records listed at USAW are accurate and rules permit this small increment as meeting record criteria). Melanie's performance gained her 6th place. She looked good for more.

New Olympic record in the C&J, with an attempted, but failed, effort at a world record of 130kg.

Men's 56kg

17-y.o. Long (CHN) put on a great 5-for-6 performance and looked good for more. Watch this lifter in the future! He created a new junior world record of 132kg in the Snatch and twice broke the Total record, ending with the winning 292kg. Including the interim Total of Irawan, the junior Total record was broken three times.

Lots of jockeying around in the C&J, with only three 'A' session lifters making their 3rd attempt.

Hoang scored Vietnam's first Olympic medal in weightlifting (and probably any Olympic sport).

Weightlifting on TODAY Show

2008-08-09T10:09:00.000-07:00

Yesterday Shane Hamman took a break from announcing and joined Robin Byrd on NBC's TODAY Show. Their challenge? To show Kathy Lee the finer points of lifting. It was a brief piece, with Shane performing a light C&J of 140kg and Robin easily power cleaning and jerking 50kg. Shane and Robin were part of a program piece that included table tennis and tae kwon do athletes.

I enjoyed serving as loader for the event.

Thanks for Werk San USA for providing weights for the demo. Some special "stage" weights, as you have perhaps seen in the Werk San USA ads that aired during the 2008 USA Olympic Trials, were ready and waiting for Kathy Lee, but we ran out of time. I'm not sure Kathy Lee could have done well with either her heels or her rather tight jeans. Oh, well.

Games Begin!

2008-08-09T09:44:00.000-07:00

China Starts Lifting Off Right

The women's 48kg category got the 2008 Olympic Games going in strong fashion. Be sure to watch the competition during NBC's prime time lineup.

2004 Olympic Gold Medalist Taylan disappointed, with three pathetic attempts in the Snatch at 84kg. Remember, in 2004 she was the first woman to snatch double bodyweight. Actually, 84kg presented quite a challenge to this class, with 1 success and 6 failures. Three bomb-outs in the Snatch resulted.

Favorite Chen of CHN did not disappoint. She lifted pretty much unopposed, making all 6 attempts and ending up with Olympic records in the C&J and Total.

Our broadcast team worked this group for 6 hours, finally getting back to the hotel at 4:00 a.m. Today's session has us calling the event at 2:30 a.m. (EDT). NBC is calling many of the sports from its NYC headquarters at 30 Rockefeller in New York. In fact, we're actually doing the show from the Saturday Night Live studio. Weightlifting is using Bill Hader's dressing room for operations. The Coneheads are nearby.

Want a Look at China's Success?

China's "other Chen," Chen Yanqing, 58kg, is featured in today's Wall Street Journal Weekend Edition. This is a very well written, highly detailed piece by Rebecca Blumenstein that looks at the system China has used to propel its female lifters to the top. Check it out at: www.WSJ.com/Olympics.

No, you won't learn about her technique or her monthly volume and intensity. What you will see is an interesting view, from a sociological perspective (after all, that was my graduate work) of how China selects and grooms their lifters for Olympic success. And, more importantly, the hardships and opportunities that accompany such success.

I'm reminded of a breakfast meeting I had with a Chinese coach at an international meet around 1986. He told me at that time that CHN had 10,000 female lifters (the US had fewer than 300), nearly all of them teenagers. In the coming year he stated CHN would boast 1.5 million female lifters! No doubt those numbers are higher today.

Today brings competition for the men's 56kg and the women's 53kg. More great lifting is bound to result.

Olympic coverage

2008-08-01T18:36:00.000-07:00

Check here for details on the 2008 Olympic Weightlifting results, Aug 9-19. I'll offer insights into the competition and NBC's coverage of the Games.

Harvey Newton