By CHRISTOPHER WARDELL
For The State News
Tucked away in the depths of the IM Sports-West is a small, but valiant group of students looking to breathe life back into a forgotten Olympic event.
Many people are aware of body building, and the many health benefits it possesses. Since its inception in the spring of 1996, the MSU Olympic Lifting Club has been out to teach the differences between the two activities, and recruit new lifters along the way.
“Nobody knows anything about the sport,” Olympic coach Charles Fraser said. “It involves using your whole body and being flexible, unlike body building.”
Fraser competed in the 1950s at a time when the sport was most prominent. After competing for five years, Fraser turned to coaching and holding contests for other lifters. Fraser said U.S. Olympic lifting died in the 1970s, plummeting in terms of popularity and coverage. But he said lifting in general thrived in part because of the Arnold Schwarzenegger fitness craze.
Fraser said Olympic lifting is a sport that involves two main lifts: the “snatch” and the “clean and jerk.” When performing the “snatch,” the athlete lifts the bar to the chest and then straightens it above the head. For the “clean and jerk,” the athlete must move in one clean motion. Any effort for a lockout from the shoulders after the initial jerk is judged a bad lift. Both lifts require tremendous flexibility and technique.
“Weightlifting is 80 percent legs and 20 percent arms,” Fraser said, “(Olympic) lifting is highly athletic and it involves a lot of coaching.”
The club varies in numbers, but anywhere from 10 to 12 students participate at various times during the week. Club President and telecommunication junior Randy Vanwagnen trains six days a week, or whenever he can fit some lifts into his schedule.
Vanwagnen began body building two years ago, but just recently discovered Olympic lifting.
“Olympic lifting is a sport that is wide open for anyone who wants to learn the sport,” he said. “People of all shapes and sizes can do it.”
Economics junior Jeff Flynn has been Olympic lifting with the club since the spring of his freshman year, and has personal lifting goals.
“By next spring I want to be able to clean and jerk 300 pounds,” Flynn said, “Lifting 300 pounds is a nice round number, very prestigious, it’s like bowling a perfect game.”
Besides doing the traditional lifts, Fraser adds other elements to the fold, such as sprints, gymnastics and other traditional types of weight training.
Fraser and the other members said anyone is welcome to come and learn about Olympic lifting, including women.
“We’ve had a hard time getting women involved because the sport is often looked at as too macho,” Fraser said. “But in actuality, women are more flexible and are better lifters than men.”
Although the club has no official financial backing, it still manages to compete at meets and with other Olympic lifting college clubs. The club is planning a meet against Ohio University in Athens, Ohio, late this month or in early April.
For more information on the club, contact Charles Fraser at 485-6042.
