Photo Courtesy of USAW

The weekend before last at the Arnold Sports Festival held every year in Columbus, Ohio, USA Weightlifting conducted its 2012 Olympic trials to determine which weightlifters would represent the United States at the 2012 Olympic Games in London. The number of spots was dictated by how U.S. lifters performed at the last World Championships where the women were fortunate enough to lock up 2 spots, but the men had a tough showing and came back empty handed (more on this later). So who are the two women pictured above who will be lifting for the U.S.? Sarah Robles (left) and Holley Mangold (right) are both considered super heavyweights (75+kg weight class) and according to the USAW article, both put up an impressive performance to lock their spots. Robles’ snatch and clean and jerk totaled an impressive 258 kilograms (multiply by 2.2 to determine poundage), while Mangold totaled 255kg. Learn more about both athletes here. Best of luck ladies in your preparation for the 2012 Olympics, we’re looking forward to cheering you on!

I mentioned earlier that the U.S. men’s performance at Worlds wasn’t enough to earn the U.S. a spot, but all is not lost. According to Coach Bob Takano’s post, the U.S. is in contention with other Pan American countries for 7 available spots. The 2012 Pan American Championship is being held this May in Guatemala and the top 7 teams will each earn 1 spot to send a lifter to London. If the U.S. team places in the top 7, they will have the opportunity to send thier lifter most likely to medal to London. The exact lifter remains to be seen, and will depend how everyone performs at the Pan Am Championship. Best of luck gentlemen in your prep for Guatemala, and we’ll be checking back in on the team’s progress, to see if the men lock up an Olympic bid, and which lifter will be fortunate enough to go. Stay tuned…

WOD 3.10.12

“Helen”

3 rounds for time:

• 400m run
• 21 KBS
• 12 Pullups

(subject to change in case of rain)