Topic: 7th place for Jared and how does Iran beat Russia?

[Mark Cannella]

Folks,
Bill Murray must be in town because the 94A session is almost an exact repeat of yesterday's 85A, ala groundhog day.

First though, let's congratulate Jared Fleming.  His 351 total consisting of 5 solid lifts out of 6 became 4 Junior Records and PR's.  He made 150 easy, then 155 even better and way back behind his head and then stuck 158 for three for three and really a solid lift. Jared weighed in at 91.77.  That didn't really deter him as he then went out with a solid 185 for his opener on the clean and jerk.  He then had a miss with 192 on the jerk that possibly was a result of a tear from his skin on his thumb and affected his clean. 

Jared's coaches then moved him up to 193 and he stuck the lift in a pretty solid manner.

Finishing 7th, Jared beat some pretty good competition and I think he was pretty happy with the results.  Dave, his dad, seemed happy too and Zygmunt was already discussing 200+ as his eyes were twinkling at the possibilities.

Jared, with some technical improvements will really flourish and both Dad and Ziggy were quite happy with the results today and seemed to have him dialed in. 

I got to know him a bit in these last few days in Malaysia and he works hard and you can tell he relishes the competition and challenge.  Good Job Jared.  btw, Jared finished 7th out of 21 competitors.  I think this is his last year as a junior though.

Now I didn't see the 75A's but a Russian, cough, woman, went 6/6 and with a PR C&J of 151, finished first.

Okay, back to the show.  Again, at the top of the A session you had the Russian and an Iranian battling out for first place with a KAZ making things interesting. 

In the snatch, a classic battle of wills with the KAZ finishing with a 165 and Evgeny from Russia opening with 165 and the Iranian, Saeid, waiting in the wings.

To say Evgeny opened with 165 is like you saying that Usan Bolt is fast.  Usan is freaking really fast and quite frankly, Evgeny might be the fastest snatcher I have ever seen.  I thought the Albanian, 77kg from last year's world was fast, but the Russian's speed under the bar defies logic and I think String Theory comes into play with his screw under. It is energy and matter that meets his snatch and it was exciting to watch.

The Iranian opens with 166 and let the games begin.  The Iranians for two days in a row have driven the boat against the Russians and today's snatches were a lesson in psychology as well as physical strength.  Now, Evgeny makes the move to 170 and again, matter is destroyed in ways only Newton could refute.  The speed under the bar is quite frankly the fastest thing next to the particle accelerator in Texas.  Another good lift and now the Iranians are playing games again like Ahmadinejad does when he attends the US to give speeches at the U.N.
The Iranian increases to 171 due to them being the heavier man and makes a solid lift, but I am thinking he might not have much more in the tank, especially locking it overhead.

Then, the Russians put down their entire hand and are all in; they move to 175 and after some dickering with the increases, he goes out again and just pulverizes the pull.  Unfortunately, the weight is swung just out of the groove and it goes awry.

I think it is possible that Earth slipped out of orbit for a brief second as the weight somehow got away from him and went out the back door.  NO LIFT says Lyn Jones, the announcer, and again, the crowd of Iranian graduate students cheer wildly. 

There were two Iranians lifting tonight and you knew when they came up, what they lifted and if they made it or not.  You also knew who missed and by how much as they were very vocal again.  So, Mr. Iranian lifter, are you going to make 175 and really put pressure on the Ruskie, who now has opened the door a bit? 

Wow, I would of guessed against this lift and I bet you, so would the rest of the crowd, except for the Iranian students of course, as he calmly walked out with 175 and somehow held on for a good lift and a 5kg lead going into the clean and jerk.

Now the clean and jerks were pretty kewl as we saw 6 guys hitting 200+.  At the top again, were the same usual suspects with a slight change of flavor with a Romanian in the mix.  Also, it was great to these guys get after it as many were barking the whole time as they screamed their way lift after lift.  The Romanian screamed at the Iranian crowd at one point to STFU after his next lifts and guess what, he went 3 for 3 in the clean and jerk with 206. 

The KAZ lifter finished with 206 on his third also and I think was not happy with the jury decision against him on the 2nd lift of the same.  Even Ziggy wasn't happy and I won't say he cursed, but let's say Ziggy can be colorful at all the right moments. 
Very demonstrative in his comments and again, working with the USA team after Ians's record setting performance, he was busting chops and holding court as only a flyweight 5'1" coach can do. 

Now, here is where the Iranians starting dictating to the Russians the weight on the bar and the attempts that would be taken.  (as smart as they are here, why can't they build airplanes that don't fall out of the sky?) 

Anyway, they had listed around 205 and the Russian was listed at 195.  The Russian opened with 195 early in the mix and just crushed the weight into a pulp.

Look, what I am about to say might be blasphemy to some, but I am pretty sure I have never ever seen anyone clean weights faster than one, Evgeny Kolomiets from Russia.  Seriously, the movement was a blur of energy that in almost 25 years, I can't think I have seen live or anywhere else on TV. 

Okay, moving on with the program.  Saeid opens with 205 and proceeds to miss the jerk.  Okay, everything is right in the world and a Russian is going to win tonight, just like the old Soviet Union used to do back in the day of lore.  The Iranian then proceeds to move to 206 and the Russian then clubs 205 on his second like Clubber Lang did to Rocky back about 4 sequels ago.  (Damn, I remember that movie like it was yesterday.) Speaking of Rocky, the young Chinese DJ in the house is playing Survivor, Europe, Frank Sinatra and Christina Aguliera.  Also, some other notable rap songs including M&M and some others that I had to ask the kids what they were.  They also played Queen and Freddy was rocking the house like Phantom of the Opera.

Anyway, the Iranian then gets on the board with 206 and you wonder how much more he has in the tank.  He now has a 6kg lead and that pushes the Russian up the board into places he probably didn't think about when he first arrived a few days ago. His coaches are probably wondering also, just like the warden from Shawshank Redemption did when Tim Robbins pulls the wool over his eyes.
He selects the necessary increase to 211 for the win and the Iranian then moves his way towards 210. 
The Iranian could of had pressure applied by the Russian before moving up to 206 to force him to follow himself earlier when at 205 but they seemed content on just making lifts.

Now the Iranian is again in the driver seat and it seems to make no sense as the Russian seems so much stronger.  Nevermind that seems to be the Iranian camp motto as they hip shot 210 into orbit and with the strongest jerk of the night, vault into a 5kg lead again.  Damn, the Russians must be wondering how the F they got themselves into this predicament like the guy from the movie, 127 hours.  They truly were trapped between a rock and a hard place.
At this point, the Russians had body weight, but Iran had Allah.  The bar is loaded to 215 and you had the thought that this was a weight the Russian could handle based on the 187 police report on the previous two.  Again, a stupid fast clean that makes no sense.  Again, an easy jerk to arms length, but somehow, the weight comes crashing down.  How it did, makes no sense either because this dude knows how to jerk.  It was slightly out front and why, I don’t really know.


The crowd goes wild again with the Iranians screaming and waving their flags and noisemakers during the celebration.

The Russian said during the interview that the 215 was a PR for him and he was also very candid in his response and simply said "it was just too heavy".

Folks, I digress, the clean was so fast and he caught the bounce so quick, you wonder how that was a PR.  Anyway, sessions like these are the reason why you come to watch, as sometimes things don't go the way you expect.

The Iranians win two nights in a row and only in the board game, Risk, could this happen anywhere else.

More observations:  The super heavyweight Russian, a 16 year old I believe, hit some easy power type snatches with 100 today in training. 
The coach for Columbia, the former Bulgarian, said their lifters jump out their hands after their cleans due to limb length, but he would prefer them to keep their arms in closer.  He said it starts young and he just deals with it by the time they get to him.  The COL 85 smoked 185 today for the win in the clean and jerk and while pushed in the snatch, Ian beat him, he sewed it all up in the clean and jerk with domination today. Ian though, will be back.

The Turkish coach who specializes with the youth explains to me in pretty good English how they teach the bar path.  He stresses keeping the bar close and pulling up with the arms as the lifter goes under.  He also says he doesn't like the hard hip and it shows:  most of these junior lifters slide the bar along their thighs and jump down.  No distinct hip shot at all.

Now, I watched the AZE 94kg B guy and he had really good technique IMHO.  He has a nice hip shot and pulls under well.  He didn't finish in the money, but I like his technique anyway.

Megan Poole hit some nice bsq's with 120 today for reps and is learning to catch the bounce on the bar.  Her coffee intake is still in the beta testing phase though:)

Tim Scott was hitting some nice bsq's himself too.

Megan was also doing a drill where she doesn't move her feet when she snatches to reduce swing on the bar.  Andrew was working on jerk positions and a few others were working technique with Zygmunt also.

Some of the other lifters in the A session of the 94kg had slight miscues here and there and it showed.  They missed lifts like anyone else because of poor technique. Jerks out front due to being on the quad too soon. The hip shot too much for them to control. The TUN lifter putting weight into his arms too soon on the jerk. The Lithuanian reminded me of Ramunas, 105. Strong, but technically a bit off at times with a long pull. This young 94 growled at the bar and I think the bar cowered a bit when it happened. 

Alright, onto tomorrow.  Two super women who I am sure have taken these last few days into context will finish strong for the USA.

Good luck Choima and Shelbie.

Mark

[Koing]

Really well written and a good read!

Do you post this for a magazine or online anywhere else?  Just wondering.

Koing

[Rachel Crass]

He is co editor of strengthplus magazine. The upcoming issue will feature his takes on junior worlds.