Topic: News: Michael Nackoul Wins 2nd Straight USAW Schoolage Title

[Chris Ⓐ LeRoux]

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Michael Nackoul Wins 2nd Straight USAW Schoolage Title

For the second year in a row, Michael Nackoul of Canonsburg won the School-Age National Weightlifting Championship in the 94-kilogram (209 pounds) class.

Representing the Pittsburgh Barbell Club in the age 16 and 17 class, Nackoul lifted 117 kilos (258 pounds) in the snatch and 156 kilos (344 pounds) in the clean-and-jerk.

His total of 273 kilos ranked him fifth overall in the 17 and under category among all USA weightlifters and makes him eligible to represent the United States in the Pan American Championships to be held Sept. 9 to 14 in Peru.

Nackoul improved his winning total from 2007 by 25 kilos. He narrowly missed the national record of 163-kilo (359 pounds) clean-and-jerk on his third attempt.

The 17-year-old senior at Canon-McMillan High School plays football and is ranked in the top 10 percent of his class academically.

To prepare for weightlifting competitions, Nackoul trains in two-hour sessions, three days a week all year long at the Martial Arts & Sports Complex in Bridgeville.

His coaches are Regis Becker, a certified senior coach through USA Weightlifting and Alex Chtanine, a former member of the Soviet Union's junior worlds weightlifting team.

Unlike powerlifting and bodybuilding, weightlifting is an Olympic sport. Competition consists of three progressively heavier attempts in each of the two overhead lifts: the snatch and the clean-and-jerk.

In the snatch, the athlete grasps the barbell with a wide grip and lifts it from the floor to overhead in one fluid motion.

In the clean-and-jerk, the athlete grasps the barbell with a more narrow, shoulder-width grip and brings it from the floor to the shoulders (the clean) and then, dipping with the legs, drives the barbell from the shoulders to overhead in a powerful movement (the jerk).