Yesterday I neglected elaborating on a lot of the women’s sports because of a lack of time and information. A reader with the username “flipper” provided some insight on the women vying for a spot on the Olympic team this weekend (I linked a video with each name):
Primarily, the weight classes to watch are the 58kg class and the 75+ class. The major hitters in here are Sarah Robles and Holley Mangold in the 75+, and Rizelyx Rivera and Amanda Sandoval in the 58kg category. Close following them are 2008 Olympian Natalie Burgener in the 63 class, Chioma Amaechi also in the 75+, and Hilary Katzenmeier in the 53 class. Keep in mind however that only two spots are available, so I think the lion’s share of the attention will be on the top four or five contenders.
First, I’m pretty confident that Sarah Robles is going to the Olympics – she’s a solid 2% points higher than her rivals in the scoring system, and she really just needs to not have a repeat of her Pan Am troubles to win a spot.
The second spot will be the real battleground: While Robles’ % score (the same method as the men’s) is 89.6%, the four athletes following her are all between 87.4% and 87.8%.
Sandoval and Rivera are actually tied at 87.8% of their qualifying total, their best recorded totals are 198 for each of them. Their rankings at any point in time fluctuate. Sandoval is slightly stronger in the snatch, but Rivera slightly better in the clean and jerk – it ain’t over till it’s over. Also, I must say that both of them are just awesome to watch, with some of the most impressive technique I’ve ever seen.
Right on their heels is Holley Mangold with an 87.5% score. She’s strong as an ox, but still pretty new to the sport. She’s been making huge strides but isn’t always the most consistent in her lifting – expect amazing things from her, but this particular meet will be hard to predict from her.
And in a very close 5th with an 87.4% score is returning Olympian Natalie Burgener, a long time favorite of the sport. I have heard rumor that she had until recently taken some time off to nurse a tight hip, but she seems to be getting back into full swing and many people are hoping to discover that her comeback was only just beginning.
This list is certainly not exhaustive, I’ve heard amazing training lifts are coming from Amaechi, Katzenmeier is fantastic and has enough heart to surprise us all, and we have a lot of other long time front runners on the start list, but with only two slots on the line I only covered the ones with the top few results in competition – someone could always surprise us on the day of.
The Olympic Trials will of course be webcast live via USAW’s website for those of you that can’t make it or have to head home early. Hope this was helpful in getting a feel for the women’s competition – which is unfortunately the only Olympic Trials we’ve earned the right to hold this year.
Edit: Jacob Cloud re-sent me THIS DOCUMENT. It shows the top 20 or so American male and female lifters and how they compare to the “world average”. The totals for each lifter are what they have hit in recent and relevant competitions, so note that some of them have improved upon those totals. It gives you an idea of who is contention.
Also, stop messaging me by saying that the men don’t have a spot in the Olympics; they will unless several male lifters drop dead.
If anyone has similar breakdowns for other sports, then feel free to post them and I’ll put them up on the site.
Here’s a quick write up of the strongman competitors.
Brian Shaw (6’ 8”, 460 lbs.) – Shaw is the reigning Arnold Strongman Classic and World’s Strongest Man champion. He is the odds on favorite to repeat this year. Ridiculous size and strength, plus great athleticism for such a massive dude.
Zydrunas Savickas (6’ 3”, 370 lbs.) – Six time Arnold Strongman Classic champion and two time World’s Strongest Man champion. Insane strength, probably the strongest strongman of all time. Has looked good in recent training and competition videos. Also should benefit from the event selection this year.
Derek Poundstone (6’ 1”, 330 lbs.) – Two time Arnold Strongman Classic champion. Derek has had injuries the last couple of years that impacted his performance in competitions, but he is healthy and looking very strong coming into the ASC this year. Don’t be surprised to see him challenge for the top spot.
Mikhail Koklyaev (6’ 4”, 350 lbs.) – Followers of 70’s Big should already know who Misha is, but they may not realize just how impressive of a background he has in strongman. He has placed in the top three in 18 out of 22 major competitions he has been in. He’s also just awesome and should be fun to watch.
Travis Ortmayer ( 6’ 3”, 300 lbs.) – The Texas Stoneman is another seasoned competitor with an impressive history, most recently winning the 2011 America’s Strongest Man. He’s also crazy intense in competitions and it’s hard not to get fired up watching him.
Laurence Shahlaei (6’ 3”, 345 lbs.) – Loz is one of two guys representing the UK at ASC this year. He is always a potential threat and has finished in the top three of many past competitions.
Mike Jenkins (6’ 6”, 370 lbs.) – Mike won the Arnold Amateur Strongman in 2010, and then surprised everyone by taking 2nd in the Arnold Strongman Classic last year. He may not have the name recognition as many of the other competitors, but watch for him to have an impressive show.
Terry Hollands (6’ 6”, 410 lbs.) – Terry is a well known strongman with an impressive resume. He is a great deadlifter, and has shown some solid progress with his log pressing in recent training videos, so he is another one to keep an eye on.
Haftor Bjornsson (6’ 9”, 440 lbs.) – Who doesn’t want to watch a giant Icelandic dude lift heavy stuff? Thor is only 23 years old and pretty new to the pro strongman circuit, but he has the size, strength, and athleticism to become a dominant presence very soon.
Mike Burke (6’ 6”, 330 lbs.) – Burke won the All-American Strongman Challenge in January, earning him the invite to the ASC and giving him some momentum going into the contest. Another up and coming US strongman who should be fun to watch in his first ASC.
Or you could just click this link: http://www.arnoldstrongmanclassic.com/competitors.html
FML.
Haha, I put that link in yesterday’s post, homie.
–Justin
At least I was able to waste 20 minutes while at work.
Holy shit, Brian Shaw weighs almost 500 lbs.
I’m telling you, the ASC is a must see if you are going. Where else will you see a strength event where the guy weighing 300 lbs. is a runt.
Mike Jenkins was doing really well in WSM this year, until he injured himself and had to withdraw. Watching him book 20+ meters down and back with 825 lbs. in the farmer’s walk was insane. Hopefully the ASC will be televised or webcast.
Hmm, Shankle totatled 373 in a local meet last month. That effort would put him at second place, ahead of Chad Vaughn, but still behind Farris. If Farris stays at 92.97%, Shankle would need to total ~381 to get the Olympic slot. That’s a big if though, since Farris can be inconsistent in competition.
(http://www.lifttilyadie.com/Results/12CAQualifier.htm)
Whoops, that should read 92.87% for Farris.
Wow, those third place lifts in that doc are demoralizing.
Hey justin, I love the blog. Keep up the good work! I know how you advocate using belts strongly so I have a question regarding their use. Whenever I squat (high bar) in them I always feel my face straining and recently I’ve been getting very painful headaches located around my eyes and face after squatting. Do you have any tips to deal with this? M, 5’7, 170. Squat 1rm is 350. Thanks!
-Lou
Sometimes people wonder what is meant by “external rotation.” The recent Angelina Jolie meme is a pretty good illustration lol
http://img.gawkerassets.com/img/17ethgja9d880jpg/original.jpg
@wyln fwiw I used to get burst blood vessles around my eyes, almost like mild black eyes, and similar things on my neck from the increased pressure from squatting. I don’t anymore though. I think overtime the blood vessles just get stronger and don’t break so easily from the pressure anymore.
Off Topic.
Any good gyms around the Houston area? I might be moving there for a job.
@DaveN x2 – Mike Jenkins is the heat. His Yoke walk at the WSM was nasty fast as well.
Thanks Maslow. It probably just takes getting used to; I bought a belt only a few weeks ago so it probably just takes time. And Brian Shaw is a BEAST.
I heart Natalie. Is there a way to watch the strongman comp online or something?
Since when is Shaw 460lbs – I thought he was around 420 at WSM 2011? Has he put on another 40lbs since then?!? Crikey!
I’m more of a Big Z fan. Really looking forward to seeing what Poundstone can do now that he’s healthy. Sucks about Bene Magnússon being injured.
@lefty Metroflex Houston looks decent (I only went there for a strongman comp, I don’t lift there). Travis Ortmayer has a gym up on the north side, and Andy Vincent and a bunch of other HG and SM guys lift at the Warehouse in League City.
I grabbed most of the height/weight info from Wiki, definite room for error.
@lefty – go to Metroflex and become buddies with Josh Bryant, I guarantee you will get huge.
@Gumbo: You brought up a good point with the women’s Olympic team rankings. I based my numbers on their best official records for the last two years, since I felt this was a decent indication of what each one should be capable of. However, the USAW rankings are based only on their results within a handful of official qualifying events. So technically, the list you linked to are the real rankings and mine are merely predictions.
Thanks to Justin for reposting my comment, I’m glad it could be useful. My name’s John Filippini, coach at South Baltimore CrossFit, but will be hanging around supporting USAW at the Arnold most of the weekend, except for maybe going over to powerlifting to back up Matt Nolan Friday afternoon. Hope to see you there.