[2012 OLYMPICS]


LONDON RECAP For the U.S. Weightlifting Team, the


Olympic Games were about beating personal records, inspiring fantastic crowds and simply being there. For one of the three-member team, it was also about enduring terrific pain. You could see it on her face. “The only


way I made that first lift was because of the crowd,” said Holley Mangold. “It was an amazing crowd and something unforgettable to listen to.” As the bar pulled on the torn tendons in


her wrist, the searing pain shot down her arm. The applause respectfully subsided. And there it was: genuine success, not a lift that would put her on the podium but an extraordinary accomplishment given the injury of just two weeks prior. Mangold let the weights fall, the cheering resumed and the Olympian smiled with satisfaction. “It’s the Olympics,” Mangold said. “I


wouldn’t drop out of the Olympics. You can fight through pain and at least put up a total.” For USA Weightlifting’s Sarah Robles, too, victory didn’t necessarily involve a


BY ERNEST PUND, USAW MEDIA CONTRIBUTOR @ THE LONDON GAMES


medal. “I told myself that if I made that 120 (kg) snatch, that I would feel elite to myself, that I’d feel like I am competitive with those other girls who have been beating me for the last few years.” She got what she wanted. Like Mangold, Robles said the Olympic


crowd was a huge help. “I came all this way and I really appreciate all this support, and the Olympic Games are so awesome because everybody just loves each other and just wants the best out of each other.” “I almost relate the Olympic Games


to your wedding day,” Robles said after the competition. “You keep the outfit for the opening ceremony in the back of your closet, just like your wedding dress,” she said. “So, right now, this is like the pinnacle of my life.” Kendrick Farris of Shreveport, La.,


the only male representing the United States in weightlifting this year, came ‘oh, so close’ to besting his own American record: a 2010 clean and jerk of 203 kg with a 362 kg total. “I really wanted that last lift,” Farris said, a clean and jerk with 208 kg on the


bar that would have buried his old record, but it wasn’t to be. Farris, though, had a cheering section of his own from home, including his mom, Monica Lockett, and his wife of just two years, Katrina. “I am happy with my performance,” he


said. “I feel great.” He finished 10th in the 85 kg division with a snatch of 155 kg, a clean and jerk of 200 kg for a total of 355 kg.


Robles of Mesa, AZ, lifted a total of 265


kg, including a snatch of 120 and a clean- and-jerk of 145 kg, to take 7th in the +75 kg weight division. “The clean and jerk could have been better,” said Robles, “but I broke three personal records today and to do that in my first Olympics is very pleasing.” Mangold of Columbus, OH, whose


famous New York Jets brother, Nick Mangold, left training camp to watch her performance first-hand at London’s ExCeL Center, lifted a total of 240 kg, including a snatch of 105 kg and a clean and jerk of 135 kg, to end 10th in the +75 kg division.


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