Klokov Training Methods of the Russian Champion

KLOKOV

TR AINING METHODS OF THE RUSSIAN CHAMPION

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DMITRY KLOKOV

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TABLE OF CONTENTS THE EARLY LIFE OF A CHAMPION

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The Lone Wolf

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Becoming World Champion

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ON TOP OF THE WORLD

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The First Major Setback

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Bouncing Back

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GETTING BACK TO THE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP The 2007 World Championships

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EYES ON THE OLYMPICS

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Another Setback

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Qualifying For Peking

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MAKING THE OLYMPIC TEAM

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THE 2008 OLYMPIC GAMES

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KLOKOV TRAINING METHODS Introduction & Snatch From Floor To Below Knees

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Snatch From Below To Above The Knees

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Hip Contact In The Snatch

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Special Exercises for Mobility In The Pull

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Special Exercises For Strengthening The First Pull

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Troubleshooting Technique Errors In The Snatch

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Training The Traps For The Snatch

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Clean From The Floor To Above The Knees

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Hip Contact In The Clean

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Clean Catch

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Flexibilty For The Front Rack Position

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The Jerk Dip

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The Jerk

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Special Exercises For The Jerk

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Squat Tips

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Assistance Exercises

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THE EARLY LIFE OF A CHAMPION I was born on February 18th, 1983 in Balashikha, a town located five kilometers outside of Moscow. Interestingly, my parents lived in this town on the street called Sports Street, where I live today.  This apartment was given to my father for his victory in weightlifting at the 1983 World Championship. My entire family has always been engaged in sports.  My father, as I have mentioned, is a weightlifter. My mother, although not professional, is a figure skater. My sister has been a ballroom dancer, and participated in weightlifting for two years, training in the same gym as I, but with a different coach. In those two years, she has won the women’s event two times at the Moscow City Championships. She has

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also competed at an international tournament in Poland. In addition to weightlifting, she also competed in badminton. Her sports career came to an end upon her starting college. Once in college, there was not much time for sports, as she was entirely devoted to her studies, graduating from one of the two best-known universities in Russia with the highest honors.

I began weightlifting on December 10th 1995 in the gym where my father’s trainer has coached. In reality, my father did not want me to get involved in weightlifting professionally.

Why? In the days when he competed, the sport did not bring in money, while at the same time carrying the chance of great heath risks and injuries. In 1996-1998, my father was a very wealthy man, and during his business career, he realized that dedicating an entire lifetime to a sport resulted in the lack of knowledge he needed for business. Assessing the situation, he realized that knowledge was very important, therefore, for his son, he wanted only the best education. This is why, when it came time to choose schools, I was only given two options: Cambridge and Oxford, and the money he had made in business would allow me to attend one of those schools.  My father had to fight the pressure from all his friends and acquaintances to get me involved in sports. Since 90 percent of these people were his comrades from sports, they were trying to convince him to let me participate in sports, specifically weightlifting, Under intense pressure from his friends, he finally could not resist. When it was decided to allow me to start weightlifting, my father could not possibly recommend any coach to help me get started besides his old trainer.

This trainer was not only one of my father’s closest friends, but also our neighbor. Of course, the trainer could not refuse, even though he had never

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Dmitry as a child growing up just outside of Moscow

previously worked with children. He has also never trained girls, which is why a difference coach trained my sister when she started.

Despite the fact that I had been involved in soccer and judo prior to weightlifting, I was not been very well prepared for weightlifting. I was slow, not very flexible, and so on. Starting from December 1995 to May 1996, I participated in several competitions amongst children my age and a bit older. I lost them all!

While all of my opponents who had beaten me in these competitions were in summer camps and resorts, I spent all summer in my home with my coach, working on overall physical training.  In 1996, overall physical training for me meant morning jogs, throwing kettle bells over head to train my back to be more explosive, walking on my hands with the help of my trainer, pushups, walking with the bar on my back, lunges, and many others.

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While all of my opponents who had beaten me in these competitions were in summer camps and resorts, I spent all summer in my home with my coach, working on overall physical training.

In August of 1996, my father took our entire family to the Summer Olympics in Atlanta, where I saw Pyrros Dimas, who was the two-time Olympic champion from Greece. He became my role model and motivation for the next three or four years. After such an active summer, I was able to easily beat the competitors who had bested me in May. I had three such fruitful and very important summers in 1996, 1997, and 1998.

Due to this, in only three years I became the winner of the 1999 Russian Championship for the 16 and under category, and qualified for the Russian National youth team for weightlifting. In that same year, I took 3rd place in the European Championship for the 16 and under category. In the 83kg weight class, I lifted 125kg in the snatch and 150kg in the clean and jerk.

Next highlight of my sports career came at the 2002 World Championship. I competed in the 20 and under class in the 94kg weight class. I was only 19 years old. Just like my father I preferred the clean and jerk to the snatch.

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Dmitry celebrating his victory at the Under 16 Russian Youth Championships in 1999

In the Snatch I took 6th place but in the Clean&Jerk I lifted a weight that was almost unread for me at the time: 207.5kg 0n the 3rd attempt.  I took 1st place in the clean and jerk, and 2nd place overall. I lost to a fellow Russian competitor that beat me by a broad margin in the snatch. In a month and a half, the news came that he had failed a drug test, and the first place medal came to me.

Although it was very pleasant, at the same time it was a bit confusing as to what to do with such a victory. In about 6 months, I had won my first international competition - the 2002 European championship for the under 20 age class. Although the result wasn’t impressive, this was my first serious victory.

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Having won everything in 2002, I began to think that I was unstoppable, and would continue to win.

2003 brought me many defeats and lowered my self-confidence, which forced me to stop thinking of myself as a superstar, and start training much harder. In 2003 I moved to the 105kg weight class, which I’m still in to this day. In 2003, at the age of 20, I lost the junior World Championship taking only 2nd place.

At that point I realized that my junior career had ended, and it was time to compete with adults, and compete against already famous world-class weightlifters. I did just that. In only one year, we added quite a bit to my Junior results of a 175kg snatch and a 212.5kg clean and jerk.

During the 2004 Russian Cup, in the 105kg weight class, I lifted 185 in the snatch, and 225kg in the clean and jerk, taking 3rd place which has earned me a spot on the national team in time for the preparation for the 2004 European Championship, which was a qualifier for the 2004 Summer Olympic Games in Athens.

As a result of an injury, the man who took 2nd place at the Russian Championship could not participate, so I got my chance to go to the championship, along with the champion. Once again, in the snatch I did poorly relative to my competition, taking only the 4th place with the result of 185KG, but in the clean and jerk, after two successful attempts (220 and 225kg) I took 3rd place in the clean and jerk, and 4th place overall.

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Dmitry atop the podium again as a young lifter

For the 3rd attempt, we had 3 choices: first was 227.5kg, which would have secured 3rd place overall, 230kg, which would have secured 2nd place, or 232.5kg which locked up 1st overall. We decided to fight for the title of champion!

Unfortunately, I was not able to complete the lift with 232.5kg, but from this competition on, I started to believe that I had what it took to be a champion. This gave me the strength I needed for further training and preparation. As I have mentioned, this was an Olympic qualifier, and since I had lost to my teammate, he had been guaranteed a spot at the Olympic Games in Athens, in which he became the champion in the 105kg weight class.

My coach and I decided to take a brief break, and soon began preparing the upcoming year. I had rested for about 3 months, until the end of the Olympic Games. After I saw my partner win the Olympic games on TV, I was not able to sleep all night, and could not stop crying. I understood

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that if I could have held 232.5kg at the European Championship, I would have gone to the Olympics, and my life would have been different.

That night, though it hurt me deeply, made me a stronger person. Early the following morning I was in the gym, and told myself that I would be the 2005 World Champion!

This was a very different Dmitry Klokov. A higher goal, made me both stronger and more mature. Instantly I cleared my head of all my childish interests, such as video games and so on. Right after the Olympic Games, when we started my new preparation, I had a fight with my coach.

I demanded him to be more attentive to my suggestions during training, as I began to understand that some of his methods were not very fitting for my training. He had always been a dictator about his methods, and did not want to change since one more of his students was also supposed to

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compete in Athens, but could not participate. Enraged, he told my father that he no longer wished to train me. To this day I am hurt by his actions, since he did not express that to me directly. We have not spoken in 10 years.

Of course my father was deeply upset that my coach and I had ended our relationship, since in his opinion there was no better coach that he would want for his son. Training alone, in his opinion, was impossible. At this point he demanded that I quit weightlifting and begin devoting more time to my studies.

From that point I began my studies in the Institute for Physical Education to become a trainer. Of course my father was worried that his son had neither an education nor a coach. What chances of success in weightlifting could I have possibly had? None!

I never lost faith, and the desire still burned inside me! The emotions I experienced after the Olympic Games had given me hope for a possibility to prove to everyone that I, too, could be a champion.  I told my father, “You can help me, but if not, I will still try to prepare myself for the 2005 World Championship.” He said nothing in reply.

In just a few days, I packed all my belongings into my car, and drove 1200km from Moscow to a city called Taganrog to a training facility where the national team has trained. Thus I began training with them.

I wrote myself a plan with all my goals for the next 6 months — every day I moved closer to them. I had so much fire and anger in me that I was able to train every day, twice a day for six months, not missing a single session.

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I wrote myself a plan with all my goals for the next 6 months — every day I moved closer to them. I had so much fire and anger in me that I was able to train every day, twice a day for six months, not missing a single session.

THE LONE WOLF I stayed away from everything during these six months including my friends and parties. I had my training, and my rigorous schedule. I followed them both strictly.

Six months later, I once again saw my father when we arrived at the 2004 Russian Cup Weightlifting Championship. Only this time I had a new goal: To beat my father. Yes, my goal was to total higher than 440kgs, which was his best during his career. He had recorded this total at the age of 24. I wanted to do this just to prove to him that I could.

Since my father competed in the 110kg weight class, and I weighed 113 at the time, I had to drop some weight. Although in the Russian Championship I could have competed at a weight class all the way up to 200kg, I still dropped the 3 KGs just to be at 110kg, just like my father, to be in the same class as him.

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Vyacheslav Klokov, Dmitry’s father was also a World Champion lifter and serves as great inspiration to his son’s athletic career

Just a reminder, six months prior my best lifts consisted of a 185kg snatch and a 225kg clean and jerk in the 105kg weigh class. Here I was 110kgs, and only 21 years old. I was still just a kid!

When I have arrived, I was unrecognizable. I had a long beard, which I had never had before, and I had much more muscle mass. Comparing old photos to videos of that competition, I saw that indeed I had accomplished a lot when it came to my self-improvement and conditioning.

At this very competition, my recognizable mannerisms were born, including screaming out loud and several others.

In the snatch, I was able to successfully complete all 3 attempts of 190kgs, 195kgs, and 200kgs. In only six months I was able to add on 15kgs to my snatch!

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Dmitry alongside fellow athletes in a Russian training hall

During the clean and jerk, due to the sudden drop in weight I could not lift the 240-242.5kgs, which I have planned to lift. I was not yet a professional when it came to dropping weight, and made mistakes during the weight loss, which led to cramps in my legs during the lifts.

I began with the 225kgs, which was fairly easy. 235 I was able to get off my chest, but during the scissor position I got a cramp in my calf on my back leg, which didn’t allow me to properly position my leg.

In order to take a break, I ordered 240kgs, for my 3rd attempt. When I positioned the bar on my chest, both my calves cramped up. They cramped up so bad that I needed help walking off the platform from my friend Dmitry Lapikov, who helped me during this competition.

This was a very important moment, and I will tell you about it later, but he had actually won the competition earlier that day prior in the 105kg weight class.

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In general, I was not satisfied. I took 1st place in the snatch and 2nd place overall, but the main goal was not reached; my fathers record stood. Right after the competition I returned to Taganrog, where I continued my training for the next tournament.

In a few months I returned to the 2005 Russian championship, so that I could have a second chance at beating my father’s record, and prove to both him and my old coach, that I could indeed train alone. (This completion can be viewed on YOUTUBE on my channel.)

This time my true weight was 109.90kg and once again I dropped weight, though still competing at a bodyweight heavier than 105kg. This time I was much wiser in the way I cut weight, not making the same mistakes I had made during the previous competition.

This time everything went very well. Snatch attempts were 190kgs, 197.5kgs, and 202.5kgs, and all 3 attempts were successful. Now I only needed 240kgs to reach my ultimate goal, and I did just that. In the first attempt I clean and jerked 230kgs, and in the second attempt 240kgs, which was very easy.

There it was, my ultimate goal; 442.5kgs total. I was finally stronger than my father had ever been! There was no limit to my happiness at this point; however, there was one more attempt, for which I requested 245kgs. Unfortunately, I could not fully prepare for this lift, and while trying to put the bar on my chest, the bar was left in the front. Immediately after the award ceremony I weighed myself one more time, and my weight was 108.3kgs. The fact that I took second at the 2005 Russian Championship didn’t matter to me, as it was much more important for me to prove to my coach and father (and of course myself), that I was capable!

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There it was, my ultimate goal — I was finally stronger than my father had ever been.

After the competition, my former coach came up to me and said, “Congratulations, your dream finally came true!” This was the last time my coach has ever congratulated me for anything. This was February 20th 2005, 2 days after my 22nd birthday. This was an excellent birthday gift for myself, and of course my father was very happy, just like I will one day be happy if my son totals 443kgs.

Now that one of my dreams had come true, it was time to keep the promise I made to myself a year ago; becoming the 2005 World Champion.

After this competition, I came to a realization that I will have to compete against my friend, Dmitry Lapikov in the 105kg weight class.  We started

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to prepare for the Russian Championship, which was also the qualifier for the 2005 World championship. Dmitry and I worked very well together, and strongly supported each other since we were both young and had to compete against older lifters who have already been very experienced in this category.

Everything went very well. Following one of the meets, Dmitry and I, together with the team, took the train from Taganrog to Moscow, which was the place for our next meet. At the train station in Moscow, I realized that my old coach was there greeting Dmitry.  I was confused by the meaning of this. I had no idea that my old coach worked with Dmitry and wrote his routines.

He had never mentioned this to me, even though we shared just about everything. I felt betrayed by him, and the fact that he had never told me about this deeply upset me.  Although this may now sound silly, keep in mind that this was 10 years ago; I was only 22 years old.

Suddenly, the goal to win the World Championship became second priority, and beating the team consisting of Dima and my old coach became first. This was an excellent motivator, and once again I regained true anger. I began vigorous training, while dealing with injuries and new records. Dmitry and I never talked, and never so much as looked in each other’s direction, completely ignoring each other.

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The first competition where we began the battle between our teams was the 2005 Russian Championship. The snatch I obviously lost, but not by much. In the clean & jerk, I would simply have to make up the weight I needed, so that my total would be higher than Dmitry’s.

This is exactly what I did! I told the journalists “Dmitry (Lapikov) will lift how much he can, and I will lift how much I need” after jerking 235kg in the 3rd attempt.  In those days, I was considered a great lifter in the clean and jerk since I had not yet suffered my shoulder injury.

My former coach did not congratulate my father or me after the competition — and I was very happy! Dmitry took the Gold Medal at 2006 Russian KLOKOV

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Championships

BECOMING WORLD CHAMPION During meets, we were able to see how our competitors and team members train.  Dmitry was in excellent form. It was easy to tell that, together with my former coach, they wanted to beat me at the World competition as revenge, and they had been working at it very hard.  I was also very well-conditioned up until the point where I had to hold my for weight a month prior to the championship.

Having lost several kilograms, I injured my hip while clean pulling only 255kgs, even though 15 minutes prior I had jerked 230kgs with ease. Everything was great until this moment. I started panicking with a little over 20 days left to the competition, and I could not do any movements, which involved putting weight on my legs. All I was able to do were highpulls, standing shoulder presses, and deadlifts. I have had many similar situations in my career, but in those days that was very worrying. I began to lose motivation.

After such a journey, how could I possibly not go to this competition? And If I did go, how well could I possibly do, if all I’d been doing for 20 days were shoulder presses and deadlifts? No snatches, jerks, or squats. I felt as if I was getting weaker by the day. All of the sudden, help arrived in the form of my father. It was then that he began to teach me that preparation not only involved the body, but also the mind. Now I understand this concept very well, but then it was very difficult for me to grasp. KLOKOV

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Dmitry atop the podium at 2006 Russian Championships

During the 2005 World Championship, Dmitry performed very poorly. I don’t even remember what spot he placed.  Having had a chance to finally let my leg heal, I attempted to lift in Qatar 3 days before the competition. I snatched 90kgs and clean and jerked 105kg, plus I squatted for conditioning: 70kg x 5, 90kg x 5 100kg x 5, 110kg x 5 and 120kg x 5.

At the World Championship, I was able to lift 192.5kgs in the snatch, having successfully completed three attempts, and winning the gold medal for the snatch. In the clean and jerk, after completing 2 successful attempts of 220kgs and 227.5kgs, I won the gold medal and the title of 2005 World Champion.

With one more attempt left, my father said, “lets go for the record!” He was, of course, talking about the world record for the jerk, but it was most likely a joke. Everyone was very happy with the results; my father, mother, sister, and girlfriend at the time, Elena.

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I was very happy, especially considering that only 20 days ago, I thought it was all over. Now it was a time to find new goals and motivations. After this competition, my father and I began to have conversations about the sport; why we need the sport, what we now want from it, and what will happen after my weightlifting career. This was very important since the sport was not only gaining popularity, but now I started getting some minor recognition which I could do something with.

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Dmitry proudly waving the Russian flag after medaling at the 2004 European Championships

ON TOP OF THE WORLD It was then when we made a decision to use media to develop success. I decided to no longer refuse interviews, TV shows, and so on. After the competition my father understood what he wanted from me, in which direction I should go, and what I have to do for it.

For winning the World Championship, I received a prize of about $35,000 which I immediately spent. Where could a young man spend all that money? Of course I purchased a new car. A Brand new Honda Accord from the dealership! Fantastic! I was extremely happy, however a couple years

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later I regretted that I bought a car, and not an apartment in Taganrog. Then I didn’t need an apartment, since I was very content about living in sports facilities.

My father, I’m sure, understood that spending all the winnings on buying a car was a silly decision, but never interfered in my financial matters. Interestingly, he has always looked for sponsors for me, always found me extra income, but has never asked me how I was spending it; I think it’s the right way to be!

I now live with wife and child, and although I am the one who brings home the income, I never ask how they spend it, even during the times when our financial situation was rough. I still had some hard times after my lack of success at the London Olympics, but for that moment, I was a world champion, with a new car a beautiful girlfriend and television appearances. It sure would have been nice if things could have continued like that forever! I took a 10-day vacation with Elena to Thailand, and after immediately returned to the gym in Taganrog.    

Did the fame after the World Championship negatively affect me? Some say that it did, and I honestly don’t even remember. Maybe it did. Even if it did, I looked at it as something that I needed to experience.

When one experiences success at 22, people may think of it as just youth, but if that same success came for someone at 30 or even later, then people will consider that success as a result of a person’s failures to not be able to accomplish it sooner.  

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In any case, I definitely remember that the attention did not reflect on my training. I began training even more. I don’t remember what drove me to work so hard in 2006, but I did work very diligently. The next competition I participated in was the 2006 Russian Championship. I once again took first place, beating out Dmitry Lapikov, jerking how much I needed to win. I remember my clean and jerk of 232.5kg moving with great ease, again only using two attempts. I had one more attempt left, but again I did not go for the record. Russian records never motivated me, and I was not quite ready to take the world record. That’s how I became the two-time Russian Champion, and began preparing for the 2006 World Championship, where I had a chance to defend my title.

THE FIRST MAJOR SETBACK As they say, “It is easy winning a title, but defending it is the most difficult task.”  This preparation flipped my entire sports career, forcing me to start thinking of retiring from weightlifting as a young promising world champion. Of all my professional competitions dating from 2004 to 2013, I have been in spectacular condition twice. The first time was for the 2006 World Championship, of which I mentioned, and the second was for the 2012 Summer Olympic Games in London. For those two competitions I was truly very strong, sadly these were the two most disappointing stories in my sports career.

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So what exactly happened in 2006? It was very simple: I had an injury. Just like in 2005, I had given everything to my training, training two times a day, every day, so this injury was bound to happen sooner or later.

It is essential for the human body to take breaks to heal and recover, and this is where it is important to have a coach who can stop you at the right time. Of course, on the level I was on, there isn’t much a coach can teach, however, he understands you and sees when you are truly overworked.

But I trained alone. There was no one there to stop me, and I now had a new goal, which I had set for myself; I now wanted to out-lift my father in his signature exercise: jerk from the racks.

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It is essential for the human body to take breaks to heal and recover, and this is where it is important to have a coach who can stop you at the right time.

His best result in this exercise was 275kgs, and I was moving towards it.  In good form, I jerked 262kgs, which was a 7kg improvement from 2005, but this was not enough. I wanted 275kg.

A week after a 262 kg jerk from the racks, I had another workout focusing on jerks, setting a goal of 265kgs for the day. I jerked 225kg and 245kgs, but at 245 I began to feel that my legs are no longer fresh, and my calves were cramping up. Because of this, during the squat I was falling forward on my toes, and I had a problem of controlling the weight in the scissor position.

Next, I wanted to attempt 255kgs then 265kgs. It sounded nice, but everything was the same during the 255kg attempt, where I fell onto my toes. I was able to push the bar up, but it was not balanced. Even in such a tired condition I was able to push out the bar, but even with extended arms I struggled with the weight. The bar started to fall backwards and my body leaned forward. Everything would have ended well if I would have just dropped the bar behind my head, but I was too strong. I did not drop

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the bar until the point that I was practically forced to. Together with a characteristic crunching sound in my shoulder, the bar fell behind my head. I right away knew what happened and knew that it was serious.

I did not yet understand the extent of the injury. I played off that my injury was not serious as I simply walked out of the gym and sat on the bench by the entrance to the gym. Our doctor walked out of the gym immediately after me, and he perfectly understood what had happened.

He immediately took action. He asked me if I had injured my elbow or my shoulder, and while keeping my head down, I replied that it was my shoulder. If I had said elbow or wrist, he would have simply brought me a freezing spray from the pharmacy that I could apply; however, a shoulder being such a large joint, the spray would be very ineffective. He immediately ran into the cafeteria and asked the workers for a piece of frozen steak.

While the doctor and I were tying the steak to my shoulder, I was thinking that it was all over. With that, my sports career was over, and now it was time to start thinking about my future. It was a very sad feeling. In a few minutes, the head coach of the national team, David Adamovich Rigert (1976 Olympic Champion) came over and sat next to me with a mug of hot coffee. After lighting a cigarette, he asked me, “How is the shoulder?” I replied, “Will know more tomorrow.” He then said, “Be patient, an injury will not stop you.”

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For a while, we sat in silence. It was a pleasant and warm day, but because I still had a frozen steak tied to my arm, I was cold, so I went back inside. I removed the steak by the door and proceeded to walk into the weighting room. I strongly dislike the feeling when every single person in the gym looks at me from head to toe, asking how I feel and asking me what exactly I injured. Without raising my head, I walked over to my gym bag, gathered my belongings, and immediately walked out.

I spent some time in the shower and then laid down in my bed. At that time, the adrenaline started to wear off and pain began to settle in. (As you may know, in the moment of an injury such as a bullet wound or a

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stab, people don’t feel the pain in the first few seconds because of the adrenaline rush.) That same effect was now wearing off in my body.

It was now 7 p.m. and my roommate had returned from training and asked, “Are you going to dinner?” I replied, “No, I do not want to see anyone.” He said “Well, I will bring your dinner to the room.” After eating dinner, I tried to fall asleep. Of course, 8 p.m. was very early for a bedtime, but after the adrenaline rush and dinner, I passed out. I slept for two hours and woke up from the sound of the door closing. It was my roommate returning from a nightly stroll.

While the shoulder pain was increasing, we were talking about different things. I was trying to distract myself from the pain in the shoulder, but every movement I made quickly reminded me of it. In about an hour, we turned off the light and went to sleep. I could not just lie there since the pain at this point was very strong.

We were no longer talking, and each of us was lying there with our own thoughts. Mine were about my future and what it would bring. I was in such good form during this preparation, having snatched 195kg and clean and jerked 245kg in the gym. With confidence, I was moving toward my second World Championship, where I was planning to defend my title. I was so sad and disappointed that I started crying.

I laid there in the dark and cried with my face buried in my pillow so my friend would not hear me. Together with tears, sadness and disappointment were both leaving my body. KLOKOV

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I started to feel better mentally, but the shoulder pain was definitely increasing. I got out of bed, wiped my tears and walked out of the room. In the hallway, there were several guys watching television. I walked by them and without looking at them, walked straight to the doctor’s room. The doctor asked, “How are you?” to which I replied, “I am terrible; I cannot fall asleep due to the pain.” He gave me a shot into the shoulder and one into the buttock, and I finally went to sleep.

BOUNCING BACK I don’t remember how I fell asleep, but I woke up at 11 the next morning. At that time, my friend was already out of bed and getting ready for training. We talked briefly, and he went to the weight room. I did not want to train since I did not know what I could and couldn’t do with an injured shoulder. I could not raise my right arm, not even to parallel to the ground. This was on a Tuesday. I got into my car and went for a drive around the city. I drove for about two hours, listened to music and thought about what I could do.

I realized that it’s all in the hands of God. I was going to do all that was in my hands and leave the rest to him. I went into a church, lit a few candles and just stood there for about 15 minutes. I started thinking of all the good that had happened to me in weightlifting up until that point, like my win at the World Championship and other things. I started feeling much better.

Before leaving the church, I asked God to give me patience and luck. By 2 p.m., I was in the cafeteria for lunch with everyone, as if nothing had happened. At 4:30 p.m., I went into the weight room. At that moment, I already knew what exercises I could do during my times of rehabilitation

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and physical therapy. I asked the guys to place the bar on the rack. On the right side of the bar, where I would normally grip it in a snatch, I tied a rope. The rope was suspended about a meter from the bar. With my left hand, I was able to grip the bar; with the right, I grabbed the rope, so I could balance the bar on my back without lifting my right arm.

After a warm-up, the guys loaded 70kg on the bar, and I continued to squat. In such a position, it was difficult to balance the bar and squat at the same time, but I really had no other choice. I remember that during that training session, I was able to squat 180kg for five reps.

This gave me strength, and I understood that I could continue to train. Following that, I added more exercises to my trainings, such as: good mornings with the rope and glute-ham raises. These exercises allowed me to keep the muscles in my back toned. My recovery time lasted practically until the World Championships. Because I was the current champion, I did not need to go through any tryouts or qualifiers. In addition, because of different reasons, there were no replacements in other categories; thus, I was selected to participate in the 2006 World Championship, with great risk, but with hope and belief.

The 2006 World Championship was held in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. Our team, like always, did not travel all as one but in small groups, depending on the days of the performance. When I arrived in Santo Domingo, my main rival, Dmitry Lapikov, who I wanted to beat the most, was already there. Together with my first coach, they made the decision to fly to the competition earlier than me to acclimate a bit better.

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Dmitry arriving in Beijing for the 2008 Olympic Games

All the competitors and coaches, like always, were placed in the same hotel, where we were always able to keep an eye on one other. We ate in the same cafeteria, swam on the same beach, and so on. To be honest, I was not comfortable being around everyone this time since I did not have the same internal strength and confidence.

During these competitions, the competitors were always paired in rooms with coaches; however, I asked my father to get me a separate room for an additional fee, which he had done. I really wanted to hide from everyone, so I spent the next two days alone in the room, practically not appearing outside at all. Toward the end of the second day, I was sitting by the pool, and I saw that my first coach and Dmitry Lapikov were departing to the competition. They competed in Group B of the 105kg weight class.

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My performance was set for the following morning. Right behind them, by the bus that takes athletes and coaches to the meet, were my father and my current coach. They asked me how I was doing and wanted to know if I wanted them to stop by to tell me Dmitry Lapikov’s results after the completion of Group B. I answered “Yes” even though I knew that I didn’t really need to know it.

I woke up in the morning, and my father and coach told me that when they came by the night before, I did not open the door, which was probably for the better. I woke up a bit earlier than when my alarm went off, and although I would not say that it was a good thing, I did feel rested. I went to the cafeteria for breakfast just to kill some time, and then went over to the bus that was supposed to take us to the weigh-ins for Group A in the 105kg weight class.

After the weigh-ins, everything was very routine; quick snack and rest before the meet. During my rest time, I found out that in Group B, Dmitry Lapikov lifted a very impressive 194kg in the snatch and a very average result in the clean and jerk. Being in my current state, I was not sure if I could beat his result. It all depended on how well my injured shoulder and muscle would allow me to perform which, during rehabilitation, was obviously weakened.

Since my injury, this was my first snatch and clean and jerk of more than 120kg. Every set during the warm-ups was difficult, due to my instinct and fear of re-injuring the shoulder. As a result, I was able to complete three successful attempts in the snatch of 180kg, 185kg and 188kg. Of course, those numbers were very low for me, considering my 195kg snatch and 242kg clean and jerk before the injury, but what could I do — I was happy even with that!

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Every athlete understands that there are certain injuries after which you will never be able to recover from in order to compete at the highest level. The thought about that type of injury was in my head.

During this meet, I was not only battling Dmitry Lapikov, but also a Polish weightlifter named Marcin Dolega. It seemed to me that he was also not in his best shape, but he was good enough to lift a total greater than Dmitry Lapikov’s. Now, the ball was in my court. After my first clean and jerk attempt of either 217kg or 218kg, I had only two attempts left to become World Champion and beat all of my opponents. For that, I only needed to lift 227kg. Only 227kg!

I walked out on the platform. I had already started to think about how I would entertain the audience after a successful lift. I was not sure in this attempt, and with ease, grabbed 227kg on my chest. Only two and a half months ago, I was able to grab 245kg. I pressed 227kg and straightened out my arms, but because of the long pause during the jerk, this was done with very little confidence. I felt that with my right arm, I was holding a bar with muscle only, while in the left arm, with my entire joint. I started to rotate clockwise with the bar over my head, and as a result, dropped it. This was a very new feeling for me. I could not have predicted this, and

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more importantly, did not know what to do in the third attempt. I was a bit lost. In my final attempt in the clean and jerk at the same weight of 227kg, the same thing happened, and once again, I dropped the bar after a desperate attempt to hold it over my head. Now, I perfectly understand what is going on with my shoulder and constantly work on it. I still rotate clockwise with the bar over my head in the jerk, but then, it was a new feeling and a great surprise to me.

At the 2006 World Championship, I took third place, losing to both the Polish lifter, Marcin Dolega, who took first, and Dmitry Lapikov. I was very disappointed and confused. It is very difficult accepting such defeat, especially when just last year, I had been World Champion.

I, of course, was also very worried about my shoulder, since I lost exactly because of that injury. Every athlete understands that injuries are normal; and in professional sports, they are inevitable. Every athlete also understands that there are certain injuries after which you will never be able to recover from in order to compete at the highest level. The thought about that type of injury was in my head.

That same evening, I sent a text message to my then-girlfriend Yelena, proposing to her to become my wife. I understand that this was not romantic, and ideally she, like any woman, dreamt of a much different proposal. In that moment, I did this more for myself. I was aware that most of my time would be spent healing my shoulder and I would have a lot of free time, so I wanted to have a wedding. I did not have a doubt in my mind that this is what both my girl and I wanted. It has now been 8 years since our wedding, and there has not once been any regret about my decision.

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Dmitry showing his playful side with his bride, Elena, at their wedding

Having asked her for her hand and heart, I did all I could and couldn’t do to organize this wedding, and she was very happy. This was a wedding of a weightlifter, which was attended by 20 weightlifters, out of which there were not only eight champions of the World and Europe, but a few Olympic champions as well. This was on Dec. 16, 2006.

After enjoying the wedding and New Year’s, I began training and continued to heal my shoulder. My new goal was the next Russian Championship, which was a qualifier for the 2007 World Championship in Thailand. This was a very important world championship, since a victory here would guarantee a trip to the Olympic games in Peking. If I were to fail winning this, it would have made qualifying for the Olympics a very difficult task. I would have to compete in a series of qualifying tournaments and internal “dirty secret” tournaments. Thus, this called for very committed training since this might be the most important preparation of my life.

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GETTING BACK TO THE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP After New Year’s, which I celebrated with my wife and family in Moscow, we returned to Taganrog, her birthplace. This is where the David Rigert Academy of Weightlifting was located. It was exactly in this sports complex where the young Klokov family settled to live. After several months of living with the national weightlifting team, Lena became a part of the family. The entire team respectfully called her “Gregoryevna,” like it was customary in Russia.

Despite small problems in training, everything was going well. From time to time, my injured shoulder would remind me of its existence. Of course, we were working with different painkillers and healing prescriptions; with

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constant form improvement, the shoulder hurt less and less. The muscle in the shoulder was getting stronger and stronger, thus removing the load from the joint. Not much could be said about this preparation – it was very simple.

At the meet, there were only three athletes, all of which had to compete for the title of Russian Champion. We were all, of course, more motivated to qualify for the World Championship, rather than winning the Russian Championship. We were all battling to win the trip to Thailand for the 2007 World Championship.

Obviously, after you have already been the Russian Champion, you understand that this title gives you nothing besides a trophy and a medal. Just a few years ago, I was dreaming of this; but times changed, and now I was only concerned with winning international tournaments, just like my rivals Dmitry Lapikov (silver medalist at the 2006 World Championship) and Gleb Pisarevskiy (Bronze medal winner at the 2004 Olympic games in Athens).

The most interesting part was that we all highly disliked each other, which really added to our interest in competing in the upcoming tournament. The Russian Championship took place in Nevinnomyssk, Russia, home of Gleb Pisarevskiy. Since we have been training and preparing together, we knew how each of us prepared, we were both about the same in strength, and both had small health issues, but there was still some tension between us.

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After the draw and weigh-ins, I was positioned between my rivals. Dmitry Lapikov was first, I was second, and Gleb was third, with which I was very happy.

Of the three of us, the first on the platform was Dmitry Lapikov. He successfully snatched 185kg. Next, Gleb easily snatched the weight, but could not hold it at the top. We know that he was bothered by an old shoulder injury, which was brought up again at the tournament.

After dropping the weight to weigh in, the muscle in the shoulder became very weak, and the entire load is on the joint of the shoulder, which led to his failure at the first attempt. But, overall, Gleb was in great form and

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was prepared not only for 185kg, but for more. He announced that for his second attempt, he would snatch 187kg, and he successfully did so.

Next, I was able to snatch 187kg as well. In the second attempt, Dmitry Lapikov attempted and easily snatched 190kg. Gleb understood that he would need a higher snatch than 187kg, and from my understanding, was prepared to attempt 193kg, maybe even more. He, however, did not risk it and attempted 190kg in his third attempt. It is important to note that he did this with great ease, but during the squat, the bar caused him to lean forward, and since the shoulder was hurting, of course he could not battle as well as he could have if he were not in pain. In the final stage of movement, he dropped 190kg. His final result in the snatch was 187kg.

This, of course, made both Dmitry and myself happy, and we could continue to battle between us two. Gleb no longer threatened us since the 187kg in the snatch was very low. For this reason, I wanted to attempt a weight that was 1kg higher than Dmitry’s second attempt and that I was able to handle with ease, which gave me a little more self-confidence on this day.

Dmitry Lapikov was considered to be the king of the snatch on our team, so he did not start nickel and dimming by adding 1kg for his third attempt. He went straight for 193kg, and like the true king of the snatch, he lifted this weight flawlessly. However, I was not ready to give up, since one of my main goals was to take revenge against Dmitry and my old coach for the previous year at the World Championship in the Dominican Republic, where only because of my injury, they were able to beat me.

To win the snatch, I needed to go for 194kg since I was a bit heavier than the rest of my competition. My previous snatch record at the Russian

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Championship was 193kg, thus I had to compete against my own record which in itself is extra stress and worry. But in this day, everything I have done, I have done perfectly as far as my technique. The weight felt light, and I completed the attempt successfully!

What did this result bring me? First of all, it was my new record. This was important to both me and the leaders of the federation, who had to have faith in me and my potential for their consideration for the Olympic team in Peking. Secondly, this caused psychological blow to the “king of the snatch” Dmitry Lapikov, since in the clean and jerk, I am stronger than him, and he knows it. Now in the third attempt, I beat Gleb Pisarevskiy by 7kg. This also very important, since all three of us will be preparing for the 2007 World Championship; however, whoever takes third place will be a backup, while the first two will be able to prepare for the tournament without much stress of having to compete at other qualifying competitions.

The clean and jerk begin. It was a bit surprising to me that Dmitry Lapikov decided to start with 220kg, since I was planning 223kg or 225kg for my first attempt. As I have mentioned, it is important to take either first or second place in the combined total. So the decision was made to simply follow Dmitry and attempt the same numbers as him. Since I was already in the lead by 1kg after the snatch, I would be able to beat him by 1kg if all my clean and jerks were successful.

We followed this plan. Dmitry and I, in our first attempts, both successfully handled 220kg. Gleb began with the weight of 221kg and was able to easily lift it. If Dmitry was king of the snatch, then Gleb was king of the clean and jerk. His best result in the gym was 250kg, and he was able to get 255kg onto his chest, right in front of me. I, however, knew that he

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It is very important to have a goal and understand how to reach it based on what your abilities and strengths are.

had a problem with his shoulder, so we did not give him much attention, thinking that we would not be able to perform well today.

For his second attempt, Dmitry Lapikov successfully attempted 225kg, and although it wasn’t easy, he did it. I attempted that same weight, and it was extremely easy. At that point, I was disappointed to waste being in such good form on such light weight. But what can I do? I have already made the decision about my plan, and I had to follow it. It is very important to have a goal and understand how to reach it based on what your abilities and strengths are.

Gleb, as a king of the clean and jerk would do, decided to take the waitand-see position, allowing all the competitors to go ahead of him. Dmitry Lapikov went forward with his third attempt but took a small step to only 227kg. I understood why he did this – it would take Gleb 233kg to beat him at the 105kg weight class. With an injured shoulder, this would be very problematic for Gleb. This had to happen.

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Now, looking back, I consider that Dmitry made the right decision with a 227kg attempt, although he lifted it, it was not easy. Maybe he could have gone for 229kg in the third attempt, but not 230kg. I then also lifted 227kg with ease. This was my easiest attempt, easier than 220 and 225kg. I was happy. I had beaten Dmitry, and more importantly, his coach, who in the past had refused to train me.

So now, I am at least either in first or second place, which gave me the right to begin training for the World Championship for the main roster of the Russian National Team. It was now up to Gleb to determine whether I would be in first or second place at the 2007 Russian Championship, in his

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home region in Russia, where he had the support of about 80% of all the fans. He needed to clean and jerk 234kg, and to this day, I consider that he did not hold the weight and the judges counted the lift undeservedly.

This was a long time ago, and I still live with that same feeling, and I cannot change it. Now for me, this doesn’t matter. Back then, I was very bothered by it. The judges counted his 234kg attempt, and he took first place at the 2007 Russian Championship; I took second; and Dmitry Lapikov took third. With this squad in the category of 105kg, we returned to Taganrog to prepare for the World Championship in Thailand. In about two to three weeks, Dmitry Lapikov decided that he did not want to waste time preparing for the tournament as a back up and went to Moscow to prepare for the next Russian Championship. Gleb stayed with me.

It was very evident that his shoulder was bothering him. Winning the Russian Championship took a toll on him. He trained with me all the way up to the World Championship, but in the end, he did not go to Thailand. In the category of 105kg, I was the only one left to fight for all the medals. Of course, for me, this was a very pleasant situation.

When you have rivals in your class from the same team, it is very important to beat them. Your tactics develop based on the battles you have with your teammates. In Thailand, I had to battle for medals – of course, for the gold ones. This is what was expected of me, and I wanted to regain my title.

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THE 2007 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS Together with my team, I arrived in the city of Chang Mei in Thailand. By that point, my mother and wife had already arrived in Thailand and were vacationing in a city called Pattaya. One day later, they came to visit me in Chang Mei to see the tournament. My mom stayed with my father, and my wife lived with me in the room, which caused worry and disapproval in the eyes of my coaches. They felt that this would distract me from concentrating on the tournament.

What did they mean by that? They thought that I would live a full life with my beloved woman, and this would take a toll on my form. I am, of course, talking about sex.

Neither Lena nor myself were even thinking about that. We both knew how hard I had been preparing for this tournament and to start relaxing before the tournament would be very unwise. The worries of coaches were unnecessary; but it is as they say, “Everyone wonders to an extent of their own depravity.”

The one thing you can never take away from me is my professionalism. If I can’t, then I cant; if I have to, then I have to. This is how I am not only in sports, but also in my life. In general, having Lena by my side only benefited me, with both her actions and her moral support. When you live with other competitors at tournaments, their worries also affect you, whether you like it or not.

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From Lena, I did not feel worry, although I’m sure inside, she was worried. The list of all applicants for the tournament was very impressive. All the names and results were very satisfying to me. I was one of the main contenders for the gold medal in the 105kg category in this World Championship.

The person who ended up being the champion of this tournament, however, I did not pay attention to. It wasn’t because I wanted to have a psychological impact on him, but simply because he was a very young athlete, and the beginning of his professional career started from this tournament, but I did not know this yet.

I prepared to fight with other established athletes, I was ready to battle and went through good preparations. I came out with all the good signs for all the main lifts, and most importantly, I started to forget about my injured shoulder. Now I know why my shoulder did not bother me, but then, I simply thought that my injury was healed, and I was now whole and healthy.

I found out very soon that this was not the end of my history with the injured shoulder.

The day of the tournament arrived. Like always, we had the weigh-ins, and I went to the sauna to drop the 500g of sweat. The weigh-ins took place at the hotel in which we lived. When I was called on to weigh-in, I was ready. Like always after weigh-ins, I ended up being heavier than the rest of my competitors, who I had to battle, and this was normal to me. My tactics for tournaments were always built around that, and I felt great.

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After the weigh-ins, all the coaches and athletes were taken on a bus from the hotel to the tournament. I love this moment because everything really starts here. I am sure that many athletes mentally break down on the bus; they are together with their rivals, trying to hide facial expressions and not show any signs of worry. I remember I was happy since I was already working on reading all my competition on the bus. I will repeat again: My main competition, who I had to battle with at this tournament and for the next several years, I completely missed. I knew nothing of him.

This was Andrey Aryamnov from Belarus, who at this time was the youth World Champion. I was more focused on battling Alan Tsagaev from Bulgaria, who was the silver medalist at the 2000 Olympic Games in

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Sydney, and with Marcin Dolega from Poland, who was last year’s World Champion. There were other guys, but I thought that they would be the main competition.

The tournament began, and Alan Tsagaev came out to the platform with 175kg. Since the snatch was his weak lift, and he was not capable to do here what he can do in the clean and jerk, he was able to lift 175kg in the first attempt and 180kg in the second. His third attempt with 183kg was not successful. This was a very low result, but no one dismissed him from being a competitor – especially knowing that in the clean and jerk, he is indeed the king.

I came out to 185kg with a good mood and a will to fight. I snatched the bar easily and even hit myself with it on the way up, and I felt it in my shoulder. I was pulled a bit forward, but I was able to complete the lift successfully.

Once I dropped the bar, I realized I had strained my shoulder, and it was now once again injured. This can be seen in the video: After the attempt, I immediately started checking my shoulder. I went into the warm-up room and lifted an empty bar over my head. I once again felt that same pain that I had been battling for the last two years. Of course, I was upset because this happened in the first attempt and the entire battle had only just begun. My father and coach were also worried.

Next, Andrey Aryamnov came up onto the platform and snatched 187kg with great ease. I was not paying him much attention, since the entire Belarusian team was very strong in the snatch, but their clean and jerks were never impressive. I was sure that Andrey was only a snatcher. After Andrey, I came out to a weight of 189kg.

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Everyone has heard the stories in which people were able to overcome great pains and do something impossible, but I cannot apply it to sports… willpower and physical strength alone is not enough.

I came out with a risk, hoping that the lift didn’t strain the shoulder. With this kind of attitude, lifts are never completed successfully. I dropped the bar behind my head. I felt that this happened only because I was not prepared to battle with the bar at the top. The snatch itself was very easy. I really did not want to attempt 189kg again; the number in my head was 190kg. And even if I did snatch 189kg, it would have been too low.

I requested 190kg for my final attempt. Now that the tactical battle had begun, my kind rivals allowed me to go ahead. For the 190kg, I was preparing completely differently, pretending like nothing happened. I simply came out and flawlessly snatched it. Of course, 190kg also damaged my shoulder, but with all the courage and adrenaline in my blood, I didn’t feel a thing.

Next, all I could do is wait and see how much my competitors would out-

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lift my 190kg. In his second attempt, Andrey Aryamnov handled 192kg. Then the show of Marcin Dolega began. Like a true king of the snatch, he waited to begin when everyone else had already almost finished. His first attempt of 193kg also was his third. He wasted all three of his attempts on this weight, and struggled with it. He received a score of zero for the snatch.

I finished my snatch attempts, and Andrey Aryamnov beautifully snatched 195kg. To be honest, I was very happy with the results of my competitors. However, the pain was very distracting to my concentration that I needed in order to continue my battle ahead.

After a short break, we started the competition in the clean and jerk. Once again, the first on the platform was Alan Tsagaev, who easily lifted 217kg. Andrey Aryamnov was next, and he easily lifted 200kg. I requested 221kg for my first attempt. Already during the warm-ups, I did not feel right. It was very hard and painful to hold the bar over my head; however, we were not going to back down from the 221kg weight which we planned to lift.

I lifted this weight, but with no courage or determination. When Andrey Aryamnov came out to a second attempt of 225kg, I thought that this is where he would start having problems, but he easily handled the weight.

Exactly after this attempt, I realized that I underestimated this young man.

Marcin Dolega, who had no luck in the snatch, refused to back down from competing in the clean and jerk. He started with the 226kg, happily and confidently. Since I was prepared well for the clean and jerk and I had this intense shoulder pain, we decided that I would only go onto the platform with the weight, which would allow me to be the World Champion.

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We simply waited. During that time, Alan Tsagaev could not handle 226kg, which is not typical of him. The leader after the snatch was still Andrey Aryamnov; he didn’t want to risk anything, and in his third attempt, lifted 228kg. After this attempt, Andrey secured first place in the combined total, and I would now need 234kg.

All I had to do now is get determined, build up the courage and wait for my turn. When Alan Tsagaev came out to 231kg, I did not think he would be able to lift it. He did, and with that, moved me from second to third place. I was getting impatient to come out on the platform, but had to still wait for Marcin Dolega to finish his lifts. He made two attempts with 232kg and was unsuccessful. Now came the deciding moment.

When I came out to 234kg the first time, I was sure that I would be able to get the bar onto my chest. At the same time, I understood that I would not be able to get it all the way up because the pain in my shoulder was indeed intense.

Everyone has heard the stories in which people were able to overcome great pains and do something impossible, but I cannot apply it to sports.

When speaking of great results, willpower and physical strength alone is not enough. One way or another, you also need technique. I did not know how I could express great technique when a part of my body was not working like it should. 234kg for me that day was very heavy, and I couldn’t handle it. However, I did take the bar on my chest fairly easily, which to this day surprises me greatly.

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Before the beginning of this competition, I couldn’t even imagine that I would have to approach such a weight in the clean and jerk.

After the unsuccessful attempt of 234kg, I had one more shot. This would normally make me happy, but now I had doubts of whether I would be able to place the bar onto my chest. Obviously, the third attempt of 234kg was unsuccessful, and I have already written off this tournament as a failure. The one small thing that gave me a bit of comfort was the bronze medal for combined total. Now, I cherish every medal I have ever won; but then, the satisfaction was very minor. This performance did not increase my chances of a trip to the 2008 Olympic Games in Peking. I questioned my ability to go at all; now, not only did I have to heal my shoulder, but I also had to attempt to catch up to all of my competition.

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EYES ON THE OLYMPICS If you remember, I mentioned that Dmitry Lapikov refused preparation for the World Championship as a backup and left to prepare for the next Russian Championship. This was more than two months ago, and it was a very good forfeiture for him. The same can be said about a lot of competitors such as: Dmitry Berestov, 2004 Olympic Champion; Vladimir Smorchkov, former World Champion; and Gleb Pisarevskiy, bronze medal winner at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens. All of them at this point were already preparing for the next set of tournaments, which were all qualifying for the 2008 Olympic Games. At this point, all of us had equal chances.

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When I arrived at the sports complex several days later, all my fears were confirmed. All the competitors had already made great progress. Each of them had a precise plan on how to prepare and make the team for the Olympic Games. Dmitry Berestov, 2004 Olympic Champion, was preparing for the European Championship. There, he would do what I couldn’t do at the World Championship – win with a good result in the category of combined total. Dmitry Lapikov was preparing for the Russian Championship, which was a qualifier for the European Championship. Gleb Pisarevskiy, bronze winner of the 2004 Olympic Games – just like Vladimir Smorchkov, World Champion – was preparing for the Russian Championship, which was a qualifier for the Olympic Games.

In reality, I did not have much choice as to which tournament I should prepare for. I did not have time for the next Russian Championship; and for the European championship, there was no reason for the head coach to choose me. For this reason, I decided that I would prepare for the Russian Championship in Saransk.

Because of my shoulder, I was not able to do any snatches or clean and jerks, doing only deadlifts and squats. I was still doing some physiotherapy and massage, but it was not healing at all. Such trainings lasted more than two months. I could not understand why in two months of rest and physiotherapy, there was no improvement.

I could not even hold a 100kg weight in the snatch; it felt as if there was an electric shock in my shoulder. Holding the weight, the shoulder would give in, and the bar would drop.

At that same time, Dmitry Lapikov set a new record in the snatch and combined total in the 105kg weight class at the Russian Championships.

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This hit me hard psychologically. With less than a year left to the Olympic Games, Dmitry Lapikov was now a main contender to be chosen to go to Peking. Together with my team of competitors in the 105kg weight class, we were now closely watching Dmitry Berestov.

A lot of our fates could be determined by his performance in the European Championship. If he showed good results, he was guaranteed a trip to China. He could easily do just that. In training, he was able to snatch 205kg and clean and jerk 245kg.

In this sport, anything can happen at any given minute. And that’s what happened with Dmitry Berestov at the European Championship. After dropping weight, his body got significantly weaker. At his first attempt, Dmitry received an injury with 190kg. He was finally able to conquer 190kg in his third attempt.

In the clean and jerk, he also struggled with 220kg, which he was able to successfully lift in his third attempt. Although he won the European Championship, he now understood that he went from being the favorite contender for the Olympics to being the last. The injury he received was one of the most difficult to treat; I know very many lifters who after getting this injury, retired from the sport. I, with my injury, arrived to the Central Institute for Traumatology and Orthopedics, and I think that there is not one athlete who doesn’t know this medical facility. My father had his knee surgery here during his days of being a professional athlete. After three x-rays and an ultrasound, the specialists determined that I also needed surgery.

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ANOTHER SETBACK What exactly happened with my shoulder? Why did I need less time to recover after the first time I injured it? The fact is, when there is damage to the joint, like I had, a hematoma develops. With time, it goes away, but different micro-elements in the blood form a small, hardened mass. Since I have damaged my shoulder many times, the mass gets larger and larger. This mass is located in the shoulder joint between the bones, and when I lift my arms, the bones moving puts pressure on the joint. Since in the middle of the joint I had this mass, it caused pain. This mass then needed to be removed with surgery.

The day for the surgery was set. I arrived in the hospital one day in advance to go through pre-operational procedures for the surgery. I spent the night in the hospital, and in the morning, there was a consulting session consisting of eight leading specialists. They made the decision to not go through with surgery but to start a new physiotherapeutic procedure. This therapy was called “Shock Wave Therapy” as well as homeopathic injections with ozone into the shoulder joint.

With the assurance from the doctors, they said that the seed would dissolve into small parts and uniformly distribute in the joint. If they were to do the surgery to cut out the hematoma, the joint would weaken, and the recovery time would be far too long. The decision was made, and we started to do these procedures the same day.

Since I had only been doing deadlifts and squats, I was in my best form in these two lifts. It was now time to direct all that strength and training into the classical movements: snatch and clean and jerk.

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In only two weeks, I snatched 120kg and could tell that there was improvement. This finally gave me strength and allowed the fire to return to my eyes. I started to do snatches and clean and jerks every day, every training session. After two to three weeks, I was already showing great improvement in these exercises. My muscles felt great, and they were recovering well; however, my joints began to slightly hurt.

In such times, you need a coach to tell you to stop and take a break, but since I was training alone, there was nobody to tell me this. With determination, I continued to work hard and not listen to my body. Of course, a new problem arose.

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During one of my snatch trainings, I had 180kg at the top when there was a crunch in my left wrist. Now, I understand that this happened due to overtraining; since the wrist is the smallest joint, it broke first. This happened approximately 20 days before the Russian Championship in Saransk.

Once again, I began to have anxiety and worry about my sports future and the Olympics. The Russian Championship was the last chance I had to make the team for the preparation for the Olympic Games. I started to force the healing process of my wrist with all possible methods. There were physiotherapy procedures, injections and painkillers, plus I started to drop weight. To be honest, my father and trainer were always within a phone call, but have never been with me to a meet; they strictly played the role of managers.

On our team, there was a very strict distribution of roles, and each of us was responsible for our own workload. I was responsible for my training and recovery, and in 90% of cases where I had injuries, I never told them of these injuries in order to not disappoint them. And that’s how it was this time.

In reality, this was a tragedy for me. For about two weeks, I did not feel any improvement in the injury because all I could do was deadlifts and squats. When speaking about possibly the most important tournament of your life, you want to go through preparation with maximum productivity. Now, when journalists ask me what advice I would give young athletes, I constantly say: “Listen to your body! Only you know and feel it; it is your best coach. When you get exhausted or feel a minor discomfort anywhere in your body, that is your body’s way of telling you to stop and take a break!”

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All of this training I was just talking about was happening in a city called Taganrog, 1,200 kilometers from Moscow. It was time to fly out for the tournament. I already had my ticket bought. I would go from Taganrog to Moscow, and then from Moscow to Saransk. After arriving in Saransk, I had one day for rest and a light warm-up. The day before flying out of Taganrog, during my last training session, I was completely unsure what was going on with my wrist or if I would even have a chance to compete. I knew I might just injure my wrist further, and then I could definitely forget about the Olympic Games. If that’s the case, I asked myself, why would I even go and compete?

After returning from training into my room, where I lived with my wife, I told her of my plan of action. I would drive to Moscow in our car immediately after lunch. She asked, “Why now, since your plane is not ’til tomorrow?” My idea was this: My plane from Moscow to Saransk is not until lunch. I was planning on leaving Taganrog after lunch and arriving in Moscow at 9 a.m. the following morning. I was planning on going to see the doctor in that same hospital where they treated my shoulder injury not too long ago. I had already called him and told him about my situation and set up an appointment. I wanted to get an ultrasound, MRI and an x-ray in addition to anything else I could do in the limited amount of time I had. I wanted to further understand the extent of the injury.

If the result was not critical, I could simply inject myself with a dose of Betamethasone and Novocain right into the wrist and drive to the airport from the hospital.

Time was very limited; I did not have time to stop on the drive to Moscow to rest or sleep, just to get fuel. I needed to travel 1,200 kilometers in 18 hours, which seemed like enough time. However, 15-20 kilometers outside

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of Moscow, you start running into traffic jams of all the suburbanites coming into Moscow for work. The amount of time I’d spend in traffic was very hard to predict. It was now time to depend on luck.

As soon as I finished telling this to Lena, she started crying. She did not go with me to eat lunch, and like always, stayed in the room. I was already full of determination. After lunch, I returned to the room with my bag, and Lena was still crying.

In five minutes, we were saying goodbye near the car like it was our last time. I told her that I loved her, and that I would try to do anything that is in my power. We hugged, kissed, and I drove off.

I remember the first 500 kilometers were easy, since I was very determined. But, like always, determination drops after a while, and I started to fall asleep. This was in 2008, and before this, I drove to Moscow and back tens of times, taking this same road. This time, though, was the most difficult since there was no time to rest.

Honestly, I believe in faith and luck and even then, kept my beliefs strong. This was a very long night, and at 9 a.m., I walked into the doctor’s office. The chief doctor in the hospital allowed me to get all the procedures done without having to wait in line, and in only a couple of hours, we had all the results.

The injury was bad, but it was not as bad as I feared. There was a moderate strain and inflammation in the joint, but no fractures. This meant that with pain management, there was no risk of further fracture or injury, and I would be able to perform at the tournament. We did an injection of Betamethasone and Novocain and went to the airport.

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Listen to your body! Only you know and feel it; it is your best coach. When you get exhausted or feel a minor discomfort anywhere in your body, that is your body’s way of telling you to stop and take a break!

I had no problem getting to the airport on time because there were no traffic jams. After the security lines and registration, I ate at the café and – like always after eating – began to fall asleep. At that point, I hadn’t slept in more than 24 hours, and I do not remember my flight to Saransk since I slept the entire way.

In Saransk, I was greeted by my happy coach, who then took me to my hotel, where we were awaited by my father. When I told them at dinner what had happened to me in the last 24 hours, there was not much left of their good moods. Although now was a little too late to tell them about this, I did it just so they would know the situation. The next day, I did some deadlifts and squats to let my wrist rest. The tournament was organized very well, which for me, is very important; there has to be a feeling that you have arrived at a very serious holiday. A lot of my relatives came to watch this tournament, including my paternal grandmother.

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Since my father grew up in this region of Russia, all of his relatives still lived here.

The following day, after weigh-ins, I gave myself an injection of Novocain into the wrist right in the warm-up room. I also wrapped it in order to not feel any pain. We were all ready for the tournament to begin.

QUALIFYING FOR PEKING It was today that everything would be decided, which made me feel not like myself. Any weightlifter or fan would tell you that there are no battles as interesting as the 105kg category at the Russian Championship.

When we stepped out, all the spectators knew that this would be a war!

The roster of competitors was very high-profile and consisted of: 2004 Olympic Champion Dmitry Berestov, World and European Champion Vladimir Smorchkov, Olympic Bronze Medal Winner Gleb Pisarevskiy, the record holder for the World and European Championships Dmitry Lapikov, World Champion Dmitry Klokov, as well as many others.

Everything was ready. Here, the fate of who goes to the 2008 Olympic Games in the 105kg category was decided.

A few days before the tournament, the head coach of the Russian Weightlifting team announced that he is interested in athletes who can have a combined total of 430kg. Athletes who can hit that number will all be invited to join the practice squad, while the first and the second place winners at the Russian Championship will be on the main roster. If the

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third and fourth place competitors are able to total 430kg, they will also be allowed to participate in further training as backup lifters. With these conditions and goals, we all started to warm up.

The first surprise of the tournament was that the 2004 Olympic Champion, Dmitry Berestov, withdrew, all due to the injury he got at the last European Championship. The next surprise was that the Word Champion and the World Record-holder in the snatch, Vladimir Smorchkov, was not able to lift an initial attempt of 180kg and received a score of zero in the snatch.

I started my first attempt in the snatch with 188kg, and although I was not confident, I was able to complete the lift. Gleb Pisarevskiy and Dmitry Lapikov, in their first attempts, completed 190kg. In my second attempt, I lifted 192kg and did this a little easier than the first attempt, but I still needed to take a few steps on the platform.

Then, Lapikov very easily handled 195kg. I, for a very long time, wished to lift such a weight at a tournament, as I like how attractive the bar looks with that weight.

Before this attempt, in me awoke a beast. In such a condition, I felt like I could lift a lot. Either from the adrenaline rush or all the painkiller injections, I did not feel any pain in my wrist, which allowed me to concentrate solely on the lift. This was my easiest attempt of all three, and I was happy with my new personal record. As I mentioned earlier, this was not only important for the head coach of the team, but also for the president of the federation. They need to see that I have potential in my improvement of results.

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I showed progress at every Russian Championship. Gleb Pisarevskiy – very easily, to my surprise – lifted 196kg and moved up to first place on the leader board in his favorite exercise.

Next, Dmitry Lapikov got ready to lift 200kg, which was 1kg more than the current World Record. But Gleb did the unthinkable and also snatched 200kg in his third attempt, which made him the winner of the snatch, beating Dmitry Lapikov by the weight difference. I honestly did not expect this from Gleb, and I’m sure Dmitry didn’t either. I can only imagine the emotions of the spectators who witnessed this.

Vladimir Smorchkov refused to compete in the clean and jerk after having no success in the snatch. In the clean and jerk, we had to go through a new

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set of challenges, particularly for me. At 200kg, while taking the bar in the sitting position, I had shooting pain in my back. I did not drop the bar and completed the lift, but understood that something was going on with my back.

Indeed, this is very common for us. When taking painkillers, all the joints and muscles in your body relax, and are thus injured easier, which is what happened to me. I expected this to happen, because I had had a lot of painkillers in the last 20 days. But backing down was not an option. With lots of effort, I lifted 210kg and approached the platform with 225kg. I could not place the bar on my chest because I let the pain take over my thoughts and was not able to concentrate on the attempt itself.

It is, of course, upsetting to lose one whole attempt at such an important tournament. Lapikov also attempted 225kg, but unlike myself, he completed it successfully. Gleb requested his first attempt be 226kg, and that is where my exit was anticipated. I was able to handle 225kg, but with great pain and no courage. I understood that I lifted this weight with no courage and that I still had a good reserve of strength. We decided to wait for the results of the other guys because I only had one attempt left.

Gleb, with effort, lifted 226kg in his first attempt and requested 230kg for his second. It was evident that in the clean and jerk, he was not as confident as he was with the snatch. Dmitry Lapikov, for his second attempt, requested 230kg, and – like a robot, with no emotion – handled that weight.

After this attempt, in order for me to move forward, I needed to clean and jerk 236kg, which would be 1kg better than my previous result in the clean and jerk at the Russian Championship. And the guys still hadn’t finished

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their attempts. With 230kg, Gleb made a mistake and was not able to get the bar off his chest. Since he had beaten Dmitry in the snatch just because of his own weight, it would not be wise to go for 230kg again; Lapikov easily lifted 230kg and would obviously be able to lift 231kg if he needed to. Because of this, Gleb increased his weight and came out to the platform for a weight of 232kg.

After he placed the bar on his chest, he started shaking, and the spectators, who were scared that he would fall with the bar, screamed out “Drop it!” Like a true warrior, he still jerked it, proving once again that he is indeed the king of the clean and jerk.

I would like to remind you that Gleb’s result in the clean and jerk in the gym was 250kg, and he was able to get 255kg on his chest. I would not even think nor dream of such numbers.

After his attempt, I needed to lift 238kg to be champion. This weight would have been a lot for me even if I was healthy, but here I was with a lower back injury. We made a decision that in the third attempt, we would go for 235kg to meet the coach’s 430kg total requirement of which he spoke in the beginning of the tournament.

Fate did not allow Gleb to be the Russian Champion as he was beaten by Dmitry Lapikov, who clean and jerked 233kg in the third attempt. Now, all the spectators and competitors were waiting to see what weight I would go for in my third attempt. Would it be 238kg to beat Gleb or 239kg to beat Lapikov? But I already decided on 235kg, and I requested it for this attempt. Many spectators that day did not understand my choice – this would give me nothing. I was already third, and they were especially confused by my happiness when I successfully lifted it. I was truly very

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happy – maybe as happy as I was when I set a personal record for the snatch. I had completed the total which was required and preserved my chances to fight for a trip to the Olympic Games.

I did this in spite of the obstacles that had been in my path up this point, and I was simply happy to fight for the opportunity for a spot on the Olympic squad. When I was sitting on the platform after my successful 235kg lift, I looked at the spectators. One of them later told me: “They were lifting with strength; you were lifting with emotions.” This was a good championship which will be remembered by me and all the fans of weightlifting. That same evening, our Russian National Hockey Team won the World Championship!

When I woke up the next morning, I felt that my wrist was a bit swollen, which probably should not be surprising after such a battle. Of course, my back was hurting as well. But that morning, I did not want to think of anything negative since I had two months until the Olympic Games.

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Dmitry’s passion for weightlifting is on display as he celebrates a lift at the 2008 Olympics

MAKING THE OLYMPIC TEAM Preparations for the Olympic Games began the next morning. We were taken by a plane to Moscow and began two months of training in Chekhov, a suburb outside Moscow.

Olympic Games are valued in that here, all the athletes and coaches battle to their absolute limit. Of course, this is mostly politics, and 70-80% of all selection for the Olympics is a behind-the-scenes battle.

When the selection process began, I started to see that everything was completely different. Unlike before, for the World and European championships, everyone is much more serious. They understand that the

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Olympic Games have the potential to change an athlete’s life. My future, however, was still questionable. Of course, the main problem at this point was my back injury; this is not a problem serious enough to cause me to retire from the sport. This was the type of injury that I needed to be cautious with; however, this was also the point in my training in which I needed to be going heavy to prepare myself.

It was time to prove myself during training – to prove that I am a worthy candidate to be a backup, to battle for the medals in the Olympic Games. In my weight class of 105kg, there were three athletes preparing: Dmitry Lapikov, who was the undisputed leader of the category, having earned this position with his performance in the last two Russian Championships; Gleb Pisarevskiy, who had beaten me in the last Russian Championship; and myself.

In my arsenal, I had three trumps: three medals in a combined total from three World Championships for this Olympic cycle, and also a great result of a combined total of 430kg at the last Russian Championship.

Everyone knows that athletes are valued based on their performances at international tournaments and not at Russian Championships and training sessions. That was my superiority over Gleb Pisarevskiy. Despite this advantage, we decided to compete. Of course, we could not avoid behindthe-scenes battles, with which I had nothing to do with. My father and coach took this responsibility upon themselves.

I was responsible for training and the recovery process just like in the last four years. A lot of time was devoted to healing the injuries. The first injury, which we were able to heal, was the wrist. The back, however, improved extremely slowly and did not allow me to lift at all. All the guys

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were well-prepared and lifted well; the head coach definitely did have a great pool of candidates. I, unlike others, did not stand out at all and continued to do presses and strengthen my back. Everyone knew that I was injured, and my father and I decided not to lift too much until it was absolutely necessary in order to give my back as much recovery time as possible. But the time came when the head of the federation said it was time to lift heavy. I absolutely did not need this training session because my back was not yet ready.

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Every set in the snatch and the clean and jerk came with a great deal of pain. As a result, I snatched 185kg and either 220 or 225kg in the clean and jerk. I remember it being easy. Of course, this came at a price of injuring my back further. Several weeks later, there was a mandatory testing training session, where each of us had to lift a good amount of weight; I was not able to attend. My father and I understood that there was very little time left until the tournament and trying to lift now would only damage my back further. We decided not to lift too heavy, but just continue going to the gym, stretching, and working on strengthening my lower back. After the test training session, I was told at lunch that all the guys did well and the entire team – both the main roster and backups – were well-prepared.

I will not start talking about the behind-the-scenes battles since everyone has their own facts, but Gleb Pisarevskiy together with his father cannot forgive us until this day. At the executive committee of the federation, all the main people in charge of the Russian Weightlifting Federation voted. They chose Dmitry Lapikov and I to be included on the main roster for the Olympic Weightlifting Team. The most pleasant part was that the key deciding vote to get me on the team was from the head coach David Adamovich Rigert. I really wanted to make him proud and show him that he made the right decision.

Gleb is an elite athlete and great guy, but he had not competed well at international tournaments. I was chosen because I have never returned from a tournament without a medal, until that point and for the years to come. The biggest motivation that I had for the Olympic Games was to beat Dmitry Lapikov and my old coach, Gennadiy Victorovich Anikanov, and prove to him that he made a mistake kicking me out of his gym.

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The Bird’s Nest, the main Beijing Olympic venue

After the main roster was officially announced, I felt a great deal of relief. It was as if a giant boulder was lifted from my shoulders. Several days after the meeting with the executive committee, we were taken to the Kremlin, where we received parting words from the members of the government as well as the president.

Our team traveled to the capital city of China – Peking. I would like to remember and thank the stewardesses working for Aeroflot, who – knowing where we were going and why – rearranged passengers’ seats so we all had four seats and were able to rest comfortably. Also, they gave all of us a double portion of all meals. All these factors gave us a reason to be in a good mood, as if we were traveling for a holiday.

We indeed experienced the true feeling of a holiday when we arrived at the Olympic Village in Peking. This is a mini-city built for athletes and

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coaches. Everyone stays here, and everything you need is free of charge. The feeling of being here is hard to describe; it is something one needs to truly experience to understand. The Olympic Games indeed are worth all the years of work in the sport. I consider that if you never competed in the Olympic Games, you were never able to truly experience the sport. Even if you are a five- or a six-time World Champion, if you have never competed at the Olympics, you do not know the full story. My father, who was a World and European champion, never competed at the Olympics due to several different reasons, and I feel that he would agree with me.

The Klokov’s had finally reached the Olympic Games. We are very happy despite the fact that it took us two tries, a lot of hard work and a long period of time. People that have competed at the Olympics always told me that psychologically, it is very difficult to be in the Olympic Village. Every hour or half-hour, someone returns from their event with either a victory or a defeat, and this causes a lot of pressure. I, however, did not feel it. A few months before the Olympics, I noticed that the date for the 105kg weight class in weightlifting was set for Aug. 18, 2008. Aug. 18 was a very important date for my wife Lena and I. This is the date when we met three years ago. In one of my interviews, I mentioned that if I make the Olympic team, I will try to get my wife an anniversary gift in the form of an Olympic medal. The journalists loved that story and asked me about this topic many times before the tournament.

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Dmitry standing up with a 230kg Clean at the 2008 Olympics

THE 2008 OLYMPIC GAMES Aug. 18, 2008, finally arrived. We were all walking to the bus, which was supposed to take us to the weigh-ins. I was walking in front of Dmitry Lapikov, and I honestly forgot the last time I spoke to him. I was under the impression that this tournament would end this long, bad history between us, or so I hoped. The list of competitors in our weight class consisted 100% of athletes from the countries of the former USSR. This was very interesting since we all understood one other.

The environment in the room before and after the weigh-ins was very pleasant and friendly. We all socialized and joked; there was no pressure. We absolutely did not feel like we were at the most important tournament of our lives. It is here where fates are decided and where we were

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prepared to tear each other apart, but this didn’t start until the beginning of the tournament. In the warm-up room, that all ended, and everything changed. The war had begun.

The competitors were: Igor Razorenov from Ukraine, who was the two-time champion of the world (1995, 1998), 2003 European Champion and a silver medalist of the 2004 Olympics; Marcin Dolega from Poland, 2006 World Champion and a World Record-holder in the snatch; Andrey Aryamnov from Belarus, 2007 World Champion; Dmitry Klokov, 2005 World Champion; and Dmitry Lapikov, 2006 World Champion. There were others, but these names were the ones who truly competed for the medals.

First to step out on the platform was Igor Razorenov with a weight of 185kg, and it was an unsuccessful attempt. I was next and was able to snatch 185kg, but not with a lot of confidence. This is common for me, as my first attempts are always successful, but not always pretty. After me, Igor Razorenov came out for a second attempt and again failed to lift the weight. Despite this, he is a very good athlete who handles his emotions well. For his third attempt, he requested 187kg and snatched it very well. As planned, Dmitry Lapikov snatched 190kg and handled this weight with no problem. I also snatched 190kg and did this with a bit more confidence than my first attempt of 185kg. After this attempt, I regained true courage, which always comes to my rescue.

Young, but already a World Champion, Andrey Aryamnov successfully started with a weight of 193kg. Less than a year ago, at the World Championship in Thailand, he ended with 195kg and was very happy doing it. This is a very impressive addition to his last result, and we all started paying attention to him and became aware of his capabilities. My best snatch number in an international tournament was 192kg back in 2005, but

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It is here where fates are decided and where we were prepared to tear each other apart,.. The war had begun.

at the Olympic games in Peking, I was able to surpass it by lifting 193kg in the third attempt. Only after this attempt did I realize that I was indeed well-prepared and could have lifted even more.

Now all I could do was wait and see how much my weight would be surpassed by the recognized kings of the snatch in our weight class. Record-holder Marcin Dolega started the tournament with a snatch of 195kg. At this moment, I hardly thought that I could battle for the medals in combined total even though I knew that these guys were not as good in the clean and jerk as they were in the first exercise. He easily snatched 195kg; I understood that today, it was possible to have a new World Record for the snatch that would be 8kg higher than what I ended with.

Next, Dmitry Lapikov stepped out on the platform for 195kg. Something did not go right, and the bar was left in front. Later, he mentioned that it was because of his weightlifting shoes – he kept slipping on the platform. I believed him since only a week ago, we were all given new shoes and were

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told that we had to wear them to the competition. He could only complete three sessions in these shoes, and the sole did not wear properly in time. Unlike him, I, however, had not taken mine off in a week. I wore them when I traveled from Moscow to Peking, wore them outside in the streets and in the hotel, and trained in them. By the time the tournament started, they were perfectly worn and were as my own.

I could not predict that Dmitry would finish the snatch with 190kg, but that is what happened. In his third attempt of 195kg, the bar again was left in the front. I can imagine his emotions at that moment. The tournament continued with two athletes: Andrey Aryamnov and Marcin Dolega. Andrey Aryamnov requested 197kg for his second attempt and lifted this weight without much effort.

I have known Marcin Dolega since 2002, and one thing I can say about him is that he took risks often, but most ended unsuccessfully. He came out for his second attempt for 200kg, which was his own World Record, and – although he lifted it – he dropped the bar. I think what happened was that he got happy and started celebrating a bit too early. With a World Record above one’s head, that is never a good idea.

They each had one attempt left. Everyone was wondering whether there would be a new World Record, but in the Olympics, this is not that important. What was important was to lift the weight for which you are prepared. What is 1kg? It is nothing. But when that kilogram is added to a World Record, it causes a lot of psychological pressure, which not many can handle.

Andrey Aryamnov did not want to kill two birds with one stone and simply went for a weight of 200kg in his third attempt. He snatched it with ease,

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and it was evident that he could have easily added 2-3kg to this weight. But they were battling for Olympic gold.

Marcin, however, wanted to kill two birds with one stone and went for 201kg in his third attempt, which surpassed his own World Record by 1kg. I could understand him. Basically, he successfully lifted the weight of 200kg, but accidentally dropped it. By adding 1kg, he not only would have to lift a heavy weight, but also a new World Record, which has never been done by anyone.

This kilogram played an evil trick on him – the bar barely went over his head and then fell forward. I am sure that if he would have attempted 200kg in his last attempt, he would have lifted it and would have had a medal in the Olympic Games. Instead, he left without a medal.

I have jumped too far ahead. We still had a second exercise: the clean and jerk. After a brief break, the tournament continued.

Out of the group that I mentioned in the snatch, the first person on the platform in the clean and jerk was Dmitry Lapikov. He lifted 222kg very well. Since it was important to me to beat my old coach Gennadiy Victorovich Anikanov, I decided that on my first two attempts, I would repeat after Dmitry with the same weight. By doing so, I would beat him by out-lifting him in the snatch.

I clean and jerked 222kg, and one of the side judges did not count my lift for a reason unknown to me. In his first attempt, Igor Razorenov from Ukraine successfully locked in 223kg. Marcin Dolega lifted an amount too heavy for him – 225kg. Usually, at international tournaments, he lifts between 228-229kg in his final attempts; here, he opened with 225kg.

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Andrey Aryamnov also successfully started with 225kg, but lifted it a lot easier than Marcin. Dmitry Lapikov added 4kg to his second attempt for 226kg. To me, his lift looked good, but the central judge gave him a red light; at the end, the weight was counted. I now had to repeat his attempt. That day, I was able to get the bar on my chest fairly easily, but pressing it from the chest – as was now normal for me – I would rotate clockwise with the bar above my head. One of the judges did not like that, and once again, he gave me a red light. Thanks to the other judges, who approved my lift, the attempt was counted.

As I have mentioned earlier, Marcin Dolega in his first attempt asked for a lot of weight, and it was a good thing that he was able to lift it. After adding only 3kg to his weight from the first attempt, he began to have

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some problems. He attempted to lift 228kg twice, and both times, he was unsuccessful. This was definitely not his day, as he told me two years later when we talked after winning the 2010 World Championship in Turkey during the drug test. “I would give all three of my World Championship gold medals for any Olympic medal,” he said. He might still win an Olympic medal, but in Peking, he left empty-handed.

Andrey Aryamnov confidently led, but still had a desire to lock in his victory with one more good attempt. He requested 230kg and lifted it with great ease. After this attempt, it was evident that he was the new Olympic champion, and even if one of us were to perform a miracle, Andrey would still win by lifting as much as needed in the third attempt.

At this point, no one was competing with him, and we were all competing for second and third place. Dmitry Lapikov requested 230kg for his final attempt, hoping to beat Marcin Dolega, who was currently in second place. He did this well, and – although now I am happy for him – at that point, I had to beat him.

After Dmitry’s successful attempt, Marcin Dolega moved down to third, Dmitry was in second, and Andrey Aryamnov was in first.

At that moment, I was in fourth. I requested 230kg. I understood that if I was able to successfully complete the lift, I would move into second, beating Dmitry Lapikov. If I could not complete the lift, I would stay in fourth. This was a scary moment, which really messed with my psyche.

I lifted it with ease – it was even easier than the two previous attempts! KLOKOV

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Falling on the platform, I experienced a great relief and a feeling of infinite happiness. If I could, I would have liked to experience that moment a bit longer – just to sit on the platform and watch the applauding crowd.

Because of moments like this, athletes are willing to sacrifice a great deal.

When I stepped off the platform, a cameraman broadcasting live to the whole world approached me. As I had promised, I shouted into the

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camera, “Lena, this is for you!” I think this made her happy. Of course, this wasn’t an Olympic gold medal, but an Olympic medal nevertheless, toward which my entire family had been moving for a very long time.

At this point, I was no longer worried if I would get beaten. The only ones left were Andrey Aryamnov, who was already leading, and Igor Razorenov, who needed to lift 237kg in order to beat me, and that is a lot. Igor knew that this was too much for him, so he decided to battle with Dmitry Lapikov for third place. For third, he needed to clean and jerk 234kg, for which he had two attempts. He was not able to successfully complete the lift, giving Dmitry three and a half minutes of real worry while he waited.

I would not have wanted to be in Dmitry’s shoes, since it is difficult when your Olympic fate is in the hands of someone else. That is now all history. I am sure that, deep inside, Dmitry was upset that he lost to me, since he and I constantly competed against each other. I, however, was happy that I beat him and my old coach, Gennadiy Victorovich Anikanov. On another note, it was a great feeling making our coach happy. Since two of his students took second and third place, this is a result that any coach should be happy with.

For this third attempt, Andrey Aryamnov easily lifted 236kg, setting a new Olympic record for the clean and jerk and the combined total, and of course, becoming the 2008 Olympic champion.

I figured that the award ceremony would cause great happiness, and it did. My eyes were burning, and my smile was ear to ear until the medal was placed around my neck. I will always remember that feeling of grabbing the medal and looking at it. I told myself, “I did it, this is an Olympic medal, and it’s mine!” After these words, tears started pouring from my eyes.

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Even now as I am writing about this memory, my eyes begin to tear up, since such a feeling could never be forgotten. I closed my eyes and kissed the medal, and at this moment, I started remembering all my injuries and troubles, through which I had to battle, and the roads I had to travel to this Olympic pedestal. Nothing was in vain.

I was very happy that I did not disappoint my coach David Adamovich Rigert, who gambled on me by selecting me for the team. Yes, Andrey Aryamnov won the gold medal, and by looking at him, Dmitry, overwhelmed by emotion when receiving his Silver Medal at the 2008 Olympic Games

it didn’t seem that it was difficult for him. Each of us

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had our own fate. Andrey’s was to be the 2008 Olympic champion; mine was to become the silver medalist; and the fate of Dmitry Lapikov was to take third. Each of us had our own limit. I am sure that all of us demanded the impossible from ourselves, but in the end, we all received the award that we were destined to get.

At this tournament, the CEO of Formula-1 Bernie Ecclestone was in the audience, and this was his first time watching weightlifting. It was pleasant to read in the newspaper the next day that in an interview, he said that this was spectacular experience that he will not forget. What was the most pleasant was that he said that he was particularly impressed by my performance and promised to keep supporting me in the future, but this was not until the next day. After the tournament, we had a banquet, where Dmitry Lapikov and I received a lot of congratulations. The most memorable moment for me was that, after all of this, he and I chatted and ended our long fight, as I had planned to do. The Olympics gave me a lot, and opened a lot of doors, of which I will talk about in the next part. To be continued...

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PLAY VIDEO PASSWORD: KLOKOVINTRO

VIDEO ONE

INTRODUCTION & SNATCH FROM FLOOR TO BELOW KNEES I T EM

FOCUS

1

CrossFitters and beginner lifters need to understand that they aren’t advanced lifters and not look at what Klokov is doing now but at earlier parts of his weightlifting career.

2

Technical mistakes often occur not because a misunderstanding of a technique but often because the athlete’s body isn’t strong enough to achieve the proper positions.

3

Strength is not enough either though, there must be synergy of strength, technique and speed.

4

Toes straight ahead is a mistake because it causes weight to come forward to the toes too often and a difficult tracking of the knees.

5

The bar needs to contact the shin during the first pull, not dragging but a light scratching is proper.

6

Train with a slow first pull to feel and learn the position.

7

Focus on maintaining eyes straight ahead, down will cause your weight to come forward but too high will cause you to fall back.

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PLAY VIDEO PASSWORD: SNATCHKNEES

VIDEO TWO

SNATCH FROM BELOW TO ABOVE THE KNEES I T EM

FOCUS

1

As you pull to below the knees, your shins need to come to 90 degrees with this ground. This will be your strongest position.

2

If you’re having an issue with the weight rolling to the outside of your feet, as you force your knees out, a more toe out position is probably best for you.

3

Focus on maintaining a full foot contact with the floor. This will create the best leg engagement throughout the lift.

4

Keep the shoulders in front of the bar as the bar passes your knees.

5

Weakness in the back will cause the weight to pull you onto your toes as the bar passes the knees.

6

During your warmups, train the movement slowly to build strength and learn the positions.

7

Snatch grip deadlifts are also an important tool for training strength through these positions and should also focus on controlled movement and feeling the muscles.

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PLAY VIDEO PASSWORD: HIPCONTACT

VIDEO THREE

HIP CONTACT IN THE SNATCH I T EM

FOCUS

1

Biggest mistake most lifters make is forward action of the hips, rather than your hips and shoulders extending vertically together.

2

Also, do not focus on particular extension on to the toes, this position will occur from the momentum of your vertical hip extension.

3

Shrug is often a faulty cue for athletes as it causes a forward movement of the bar and the arms to stop the bars vertical motion.

4

Elbows are like arrows and where they point will indicate the direction of the bar. Focus on ELBOWS UP at hip contact.

5

Only focus on the arm pull from when the bar is at the hip, until it is at the bottom of the chest.

6

Focus on the elbows staying forward, over the bar to help keep the bar close to the body.

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PLAY VIDEO PASSWORD: PULLSPEC

VIDEO FOUR

SPECIAL EXERCISES FOR MOBILITY IN THE PULL I T EM 1

KLOKOV

FOCUS Focus on flexing the legs and glutes at the top of the pull to ensure full extension

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PLAY VIDEO PASSWORD: FIRSTPULL

VIDEO FIVE

SPECIAL EXERCISES FOR STRENGTHENING THE FIRST PULL I T EM

FOCUS

1

An imbalance of strength between the legs and back will cause you to get out of position during the first pull, either your legs or back taking over too early.

2

Deficit snatch grip deadlifts will be the best exercise for leg development through this movement.

3

Deficit RDLs will be the best exercise for back development through this movement.

4

For weightlifting, don’t train a forward hip position at the end of deadlifting variations, keep your shoulders slightly forward in the finish position.

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PLAY VIDEO PASSWORD: SNATCHTECH

VIDEO SIX

TROUBLESHOOTING TECHNIQUE ERRORS IN THE SNATCH I T EM

FOCUS

1

Jumping too high will cause balance issues during the catch. Feet should slide out during the catch, not be a jump into position.

2

Focus on finding a comfortable bottom position in the catch that you can bounce in and stay on balance.

3

Focus on making every lift look identical. Trying to put maximal power into submaximal weights may cause technical errors at lighter weights.

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PLAY VIDEO PASSWORD: TRAINTRAPS

VIDEO SEVEN

TRAINING THE TRAPS FOR THE SNATCH I T EM

FOCUS

1

Using straps during high pulls will help alleviate stress on the wrists

2

It is fine to bring the bar higher in these drills than you will during the snatch, as long as a forward elbow position is maintained and elbows stay higher than the bar.

3

Focus on keeping the bar as close as possible throughout the movement.

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PLAY VIDEO PASSWORD: CLEANKNEES

VIDEO EIGHT

CLEAN FROM THE FLOOR TO ABOVE THE KNEES I T EM

FOCUS

1

There is less emphasis on a forward shoulder position in the clean than there is in the snatch.

2

Contact with the bar should begin at the bottom of the quad and lightly drag to the mid thigh.

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PLAY VIDEO PASSWORD: CLEANCONTACT

VIDEO NINE

HIP CONTACT IN THE CLEAN I T EM

FOCUS

1

The bar isn’t pulled as high in the clean as in the snatch to avoid the bar crashing in the catch.

2

Elbows high and wide will keep you on balance during the pull.

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PLAY VIDEO PASSWORD: CLEANCATCH

VIDEO TEN

CLEAN CATCH I T EM

FOCUS

1

Focus on sliding the feet out into your catch position, not jumping to your position.

2

Focus on a full hand grip during the catch to be able to control the bar better than just catching it on your fingers.

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PLAY VIDEO PASSWORD: FRONTFLEX

VIDEO ELEVEN

FLEXIBILTY FOR THE FRONT RACK POSITION I T EM

FOCUS

1

Good flexibility in the wrists, triceps, shoulders and internal rotators is critical to achieve a full hand grip in the front rack.

2

Mobility and flexibility training for 5-10 minutes before and after training should be sufficient to achieve positions.

3

Insufficient flexibility can cause a number of issues in the catch and lead to potential injury.

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PLAY VIDEO PASSWORD: JERKDIP

VIDEO TWELVE

THE JERK DIP I T EM

FOCUS

1

Weaker/More Beginner lifters should utilize a deeper jerk dip for improved bar oscillation.

2

Deeper dip position will allow for greater leg engagement in the drive.

3

Focus on feeling the hips engage and load as you dip in the jerk.

4

Focus on pushing the knees out, while remaining a full foot contact, during the dip. A toe out position will help improve this.

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PLAY VIDEO PASSWORD: KLOKOVJERK

VIDEO THIRTEEN

THE JERK I T EM

FOCUS

1

A lack of flexibility will necessitate a wider stance, but this is not ideal because it will not allow you to lift the bar as high.

2

Many lifters suffer from a lack of full extension through the legs in the jerk drive.

3

Focus on a full foot contact throughout the dip and drive.

4

A vertical torso position is critical to maintain throughout the jerk.

5

The front shin needs to be at 90 degrees to the floor in the split position.

6

The back leg should remain slightly bent/relaxed throughout the split.

7

The front and back toes should both be slightly internally rotated during the split.

8

Feet should slide into position in the jerk, not jump. From a fully extended position, slide (moving the feet just over the ground) into the split position.

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PLAY VIDEO PASSWORD: JERKSPEC

VIDEO FOURTEEN

SPECIAL EXERCISES FOR THE JERK I T EM

FOCUS

1

Light weight must often be used in new exercises until proficiency is achieved.

2

Focus on full extension through the hips, knees and ankles during jump squats.

3

Speed of movement is the primary concern with these exercises, not weight used.

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PLAY VIDEO PASSWORD: SQUATTIPS

VIDEO FIFTEEN

SQUAT TIPS I T EM

FOCUS

1

Training a slow descent will build more yielding strength to improve the catch portion of all lifts and not let the bar crash on you as much.

2

The back squat is for training the power of your legs, the front squat is for training your back and proper positions.

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PLAY VIDEO PASSWORD: ASSISTANCE

VIDEO SIXTEEN

ASSISTANCE EXERCISES I T EM

FOCUS

1

GHDs are the best developer of the lower back, hamstrings and glutes.

2

When performing GHDs, it is better to hold the weight on the back, as this will force you into a flat back position, as opposed to rounding forward if holding weights in front.

3

Arm strength plays a valuable role in catching and stabilizing the snatch, don’t neglect training your upper body.

4

Improved pressing strength will allow you to recover from mistakes made earlier in your lifts.

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