Last Saturday, Sacramento High hosted the Tommy Kono V Weightlifting Championships and as coach Paul Doherty described it, the Hassle Free Barbell Club “put on a display for all to see the next batch of Junior champions in the U.S. bid to compete against the world's best.”


85-kg D’Angelo Osorio, yet another talented young weightlifter from Northern California, served notice by snatching 120 kg at the Tommy Kono V weightlifting competition at Sacramento High last Saturday.  Sac High’s Mel Lawson Theater had been revitalized for the meet, to better showcase the sport.  IronMind® | Randall J. Strossen photo.


Sounds big and it’s not bluff because as Coach Doherty told IronMind®, “Jenny Lam, Chioma Amechi, Sae Vang, D'Angelo Osorio, Ian Wilson and Alex Lee all took the next step toward the 2011 Junior World Weightlifting Championships.”

Earlier in the week, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger visited the weight room at Sacramento High, honoring alum Tommy Kono, who was an Olympic gold medalist in weightlifting when Schwarzenegger was just beginning his own career in the iron game.  

Governor Schwarzenegger was rich in his praise of Kono, who he said inspired him, and turning his message to the young student-athletes filling the weight room, Schwarzenegger told them that the lessons they were learning would carry over and benefit them for the rest of their lives.

Hearing that funding shortages had kept some of the young athletes from being able to compete in the 2010 Junior World Weightlifting Championships, Governor Schwarzenegger pledged to the group that he would identify a source of financial support.

With a personal visit by Tommy Kono and Arnold Schwarzenegger priming them for the contest, Coach Doherty told IronMind, “The young guns kept firing forward.  Vang set new personal records in the snatch and total with lifts of 98 and 226, while Ian Wilson broke yet another PWA [Pacific Weightlifting Association] record with an incredibly impressive 142-kg snatch.  And armed with a monster clean and jerk, the youngest of the group has no intention of ‘waiting for his turn’ as he continues his furious record-setting pace. 

“85-kg 17-year-old D'Angelo Osorio brought his A game to the stage, knocking off huge PRs of 120 and 150 to be considered for contention soon on that Junior Worlds roster,” Doherty said.  “New to the scene but with loads of talent, super heavyweight winner Alex Lee will be one to talk about in March.  The 18-year-old superstar is 6 months out of surgery and qualified for the American Open, where he hopes to post a total that will put him in contention for that [Junior Worlds] team.
 
“Speaking of March,” said Doherty, “the youths may be bidding for their spots on familiar ground as rumors of an international qualifier become more and more real each day.  The celebrity status of the club and the prime location of Northern California have garnered increasing interest for a monumental ‘IronMind® Invitational.’ 

“The ‘IronMind® Invitational,’ although in infancy now, will soon grow into a roaring reality for USA Weightlifting as the world's best flock to this hub of weightlifting talent," Doherty said.  "And if Ilya Ilin or Matthias Steiner can't humble you into new record lifts, then take a back seat as these new young guns shoot for the stars in 2011.”        


Coach Paul Doherty (left) highlights Sac High’s weightlifting program for California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.  IronMind® | Randall J. Strossen photo.
                                                           
                                                           
                                                                                                      

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