The action has already started but I wanted to write quickly about the 2014 US National Championships. I have competed in several US National Championships and I have been fortunate to medal in every single one of them. I owe that to a combination of good coaching being a worry wart and being on one of the best teams in the history of the US. During that time there were anywhere from 75 to 100 or so competitors competing at the US National meets. The competition venues were terrible, the warm up conditions and the equipment were abysmal. There were absolutely no meet sponsors, none nada zilch. I lifted in an era when lifting was quite possibly on its death bed. It was the same people the same coaches and the same lifters over-and-over again. Post CrossFit and now that has all changed. Last year the American Open Weightlifting Championships had over 300 competitors. This years Nationals boost nearly 400+ athletes! The competitions themselves are more competitive also - naturally larger numbers draws a larger talent pool. Dozens of new coaches are appearing. There are serious sponsors all over the place and Muscle Driver USA is literally funding its own team. To quote Don McCauley I think we are a sport now. I am going to call it now - this years American Open in Washington DC is going to be epic with probably over 400+ Olympic lifters. At some point the qualifying totals will have to go up. If you are young and a serious CrossFitter and serious about competing then you have to be doing the Olympic lifts religiously. Photos courtesy of Don McCauley and Matt Bergeron.
Posted on: Fri, 18 Jul 2014 14:37:32 +0000
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