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CHAIRMAN’S COMMENTARY


FINAL QUALIFICATION FOR THE 2012


Our athletes did their best at the 2011


Worlds and now we must do our best to work with the results they generated. That will necessitate an Olympic Team Trials for the women in Columbus, Ohio, the first weekend in March in conjunction with the National Championships. It will also neces- sitate that our men have an alternative fi- nal Olympic Trials event at the Pan Ameri- can Championships in Guatemala, in April. Why is this the case? USA Weightlifting (USAW) has a long


standing agreement with the United States Olympic Committee (USOC) to conduct a Men’s & Women’s Olympic Trials that is separate from USAW’s National Champi- onships and other qualifying events (it can be at the same location as the Nationals but at a different time). There is an excep- tion in an instance in which the US must compete at an international qualification event to earn an Olympic slot(s) and that event is too close to the Olympics to con- duct a separate Olympic Trials before the Games. This just so happens to be the case with the 2012 Pan American Cham- pionships. Given these requirements, the following is how the Olympic qualification process will work in 2012.


WOMEN’S QUALIFICATION The Women’s Team did very well over-


all and came away from the Worlds hav- ing earned two Olympic slots. We offer our congratulations and wish the best of luck to all of our powerful female athletes as they battle for those two coveted spots


OLYMPIC GAMES BY ARTIE DRECHSLER


up through the final Olympic Trials. The top 15 women, according to our Olympic Team Selection ranking system going into the Nationals (regardless of weight class), will be placed in the formal Olympic Trials. The Olympic Trials are scheduled to take place on the afternoon of Sunday, March 4th, 2012. The rest of our top female ath- letes will compete at the women’s divisions of the National Championships, which will be held Friday, March 2nd through Satur- day, March 3rd, and possibly on the morn- ing of March 4th. The final results of the Women’s Nationals & Olympic Trials will be determined on the basis of the com- bined performances across all three days. For example, if a woman in the 53 kg


category does not rank in the top 15 over- all on the Olympic Qualification ranking list going into the Nationals/Trials, but her performance at the Nationals places her higher on the Olympic Qualification rank- ing list than anyone competing at the for- mal Trials session on Sunday, she will be both the National Champion and a mem- ber of our Olympic Team. Alternatively, if a woman who is invited to lift in the Olympic Trials on March 4th makes a total that gives her the top ranking based on the Olympic Qualification standards, she will be both the National Champion in her bodyweight category and a member of the 2012 US Olympic Team. In a final example, if no women lifting in the 75 kg category qualify for the Olympic Trials session, the woman who is ranked highest in that category in the 75 kg session at the Nationals will be


2 >> WEIGHTLIFTING.TEAMUSA.ORG


NATALIE POINTS TO HER FANS AFTER A SUCCESSFUL ATTEMPT


the National Champion (awards will be given in that category at the Nationals, im- mediately after the lifting – that would not be the case for any bodyweight category with one or more athletes competing in the Olympic Trials session as the outcome of the Nationals would not be known until the conclusion of the Trials). So, in essence, the sessions conducted the women on March 2nd-3rd, and


for


possibly the morning of March 4th, at the Nationals will be similar to “B” sessions for the Nationals and Olympic Trials in all bodyweight categories for which there are women lifting in the Olympic Trials and March 4th. If there are no women lifting in a particular weight class at the Trials, then the sessions on March 2nd-3rd, and pos- sibly morning of March 4th, will constitute the National Championships and the win- ners will be recognized in traditional post- competition ceremonies. However,


any


total made in such sessions will be used to rank the athletes in those sessions for Olympic Team Qualification and if the top athlete in one of those sessions outranks all of the athletes lifting in the Trials, she will be a member of the 2012 US Olympic Team.


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