The youth competitors would have more


opportunities to meet their Weightlifting idols in 2007 and 2008. The 2007 Arnold Weightlifting Championships hosted the World Team Challenge, featured the top 40 US lifters vying for a spot on the 2007 World Championships Team, in addition to the Open competition offering five figure prize money and scholarships. Forty percent of these top lifters lifted more at the 2007 Arnold in March than in the 2007 Nationals two months later, so it was no surprise when the athletes voted for the 2008 Nationals, an Olympic-qualifying event, they voted to have them at the 2008 Arnold Weightlifting Championships. Every Arnold Weightlifting Championship


has had its memorable moments and star athletes, but in 2008 Weightlifting became the first sport to have its national champi- onship at the Arnold Sports Festival. Prize money was donated by Werksan Barbell and owner Joe DeLago allowing Columbus Weightlifting to pull out all the stops. The National Championships went off without a hitch, receiving unprecedented press cov- erage. Over a dozen former US Olympians were in attendance, making 2008 Nation- als the most star studded Nationals in re- cent history. Accolades were received from


both competitors and attendees—many of whom had never had the Arnold experi- ence—and they swore to return every year. In 2009 the Germans came to the Arnold


Sports Festival and teamed up with a few USA lifters for a great demonstration and show. The lifters at the event included some notable past winners and provided a great thrill for those that attended as well as those that lifted. In 2010, a USAW Pan-Am qualifier, our


2nd one in the last few years, became the fo- cal point of our event and provided a great showcase of our best lifters trying to qualify for the Pan-Ams later that year. Our 2011 event proved to be most excit-


ing as we came up with a fantastic concept of having our best USA lifters compete head to head against a South Pacific team headed up by head coach and IWF VP, Paul Coffa. This proved to be a huge highlight and great lifts were made by many during this featured event emceed by Mike Bur- gener. When the dust finally settled on the last big clean & jerk by Itte Detenamo, at 215kg, the South Pacific group had ruled the land and laid claim to the 1st Annual Eleiko One Award. As great as the Arnold has been, how- ever, it reached the pinnacle in 2012 when


it hosted not only the USA Weightlifting National Championships, but also the 2012 USA Weightlifting Olympic Trials to select the team for London. The action was live streamed and the crowd shoulder to shoul- der into the main hallway as Sarah Robles and Columbus Weightlifting’s own Holley Mangold made it a women’s team of two super-heavyweights. Mark Cannella, along with Rachel Crass and Dan Bell not only got to run the greatest meet in the coun- try, CWL’s best lifter also made Mark Can- nella an Olympic coach. CWLC could not be prouder of them both. The Arnold Weightlifting Championship


is much more than a meet. It is a reunion of old friends meeting to talk over good times past and present and new friends reveling in memories made; it is a chance to rub shoul- ders with other iron-gamers from powerlift- ing, strongman and bodybuilding; it is an opportunity for fans young and old to meet and socialize with their lifting heroes past and present; it is a chance for the Champi- ons of Yesterday to encourage and mentor the Champions of Tomorrow. Most of all it is to be a part of Arnold’s dream for the sport, The Arnold Weightlifting Championships, The Greatest Show in Weightlifting.


USA Weightlifting would like to thank Hookgrip for providing outstanding photographs for this magazine. For more information on Hookgrip please see below:


Hookgrip was started with the goal of bringing quality weightlifting information, media and products to the market because, when looking around for those sorts of things, they are generally severely lacking in some way. The goal for hookgrip is to make it easier to follow weightlifting, to raise the profile of top weightlifting athletes, to make the sport more popular in the US and to hopefully inspire people to want to lift more. Right now, hookgrip is mainly focused on capturing and distributing high-quality weightlifting images. As of now, most of the distribution happens via the Face- book page — http://www.facebook.com/hookgripdotcom. Hookgrip’s posted images are from competitions ranging from local meets to the Olympics and lots of levels in between. Recently photographed meets include the 2012 European Juniors and the 2012 American Open. In addition, the 2013 travel schedule is packed to the brim — with trips scheduled to the Arnold, the European Senior Championships, the Junior Worlds, US Nationals, the World Weightlifting Champion- ships and several more. In addition, the full launch of the hookgrip.com website is scheduled for the first quarter of 2013 and the weightlifting world should love it. Stay tuned!


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