EDITORS MESSAGE…
The most satisfying part of being a member of the Manitoba Weightlifting Association is the opportunity to contribute to the noticeable growth of weightlifting in Manitoba, and the individual athlete development. Participation of our athletes at the recent high profile events proved that the motto of "work hard, compete with confidence and enjoy the results" is gaining in popularity.

With the summer upon us, most of the competitive members did enter the unloading phase of their annual training plan. The main training objective is to improve cardio, flexibility, and general body conditioning, to lay a foundation for the next season's strength improvement.

In August, the sport of weightlifting will once again take a center stage during the Olympic Summer Games. I expect a very fierce battles for the top positions in almost every weight category, with undoubtedly few surprises in the cards.

2004 Olympic Torch Relay: the Olympic flame is on its final journey around the world, which included the stops to 34 cities. On June 16, 2004 the flame arrived in Los Angeles, California (USA), host of the 1932 and 1984 Summer Olympic Games. Among those who carried it during its one-day stop were Janet Evans (swimming), who won four Olympic gold medals and one silver medal (Seoul 1988, Barcelona 1992, Atlanta 1996), Hollywood movie stars Tom Cruise and Sylvester Stallone also participated in the relay. On June 21, 2004 Montreal, Canada was the final stopover on the North American continent. It was a time to recall the 1976 Games. The Flame passed all the central points in the multicultural Montreal, giving the various different ethnic communities the opportunity to welcome the torchbearers. It received a special welcome from Montreal's Greek community, at the statue of Athena just outside St. Joseph's church, where they had been waiting from early on to greet it. The last Torchbearer was Bruny Surin, a legendary figure in Canadian sport, as he has taken part in three Olympic Games. "The Olympic flame that was lit in Montreal in 1976 never burned out", remarked Athens 2004 representative Spiros Lambridis, as he handed an Olympic torch to Montreal's Mayor. "The city has maintained its Olympic spirit". At dawn, Greek time, the Greek delegation flew to Antwerp and then went on to Brussels.

Junior World Championships, May 21-31, 2004, Minsk, BLR

2nd Annual Titan Games: Atlanta, Georgia, June 18-20
These multi sport games featured athletes from USA, Canada, Germany, Korea, China, Georgia, Spain, Columbia, Mexico, Peurto Rico, and Iraq. These countries competed in several strength and combat events such as Taekwondo, Judo, Boxing, Wrestling (freestyle and Greco Roman), Weightlifting, Fencing and Shot Put. The Phillips Arena was the hosting venue and it was beautiful, 4 stages and 4 sports going on simultaneously, with motivating music and announcing to please the crowds.

I myself, along with Susanne Dandenault and coach Denis Van Laeken from the Brick Gym, composed half of the team that represented Canada and the Pan American All Stars. Other Canadians were Maryse Turcotte, Alexis Demers-Marcil, and coach Pierre Bergeron Jr. from Quebec. The adrenaline boost when on stage was incredible, I was very pleased with my 6 for 6 performance, managing to Snatch 155 kg just a week after Nationals, and a personal and provincial record of 185 kg in the Clean and Jerk. The 340 kg total was also a new provincial record in the 105 kg+ class, and put me in 2nd place in the 105 kg+ class behind Olympian Shane Hamman of the USA. Other Canadians did very well considering the post Nationals timing of the event, no personal records, but very entertaining performances.

In addition to the competition, the weather was very kind to us, and the Manitobans toured the beautiful city of Atlanta. We visited the CNN Center, World of Coca Cola, Centennial Olympic Park, and even managed to get a round of golf in down yonder on the Chatakoochie. All in all, the Titan Games organization was very well done, and it proved to be one of the funnest competitive trips of my career.

Submitted by: Rafal Korkowski, Hercules Weightlifting Club / Team Canada

CANADIAN NEWS

Senior Canadian National Championships, June12-13, 2004, Valleyfield, QC

Rosemary - 62.5 kg snatch	Carl - 130 kg snatch	Noreena - 75 kg snatch
Charlotte - 95 kg snatch	Susanne - 103 kg snatch	Rafal - 160 kg snatch
Rosemary - 80 kg clean & jerk	Carl - 160 kg clean & jerk	Noreena - 90 kg clean & jerk
Charlotte - 105 kg clean & jerk	Susanne - 136 kg clean & jerk	Rafal - 182.5 kg clean & jerk

Susanne Dandenault - the first Canadian woman to succesfully lift 300 lb in the clean & jerk weightlifting event

MANITOBA NEWS

Message from the Office

The 2003-2004 weightlifting season ended on a very high note. We have received word that we will see an increase in funding for the 2004-2005 season. The funding application we submitted in May was evaluated by Sport Manitoba and the feedback was very positive. Weightlifting is firming at the top of the D category sports and, therefore, we are receiving maximum amounts for funding. Special thanks go to the Executive Committee for their hard work on the Game Plan!

We had a great turnout at the 2004 Annual General Meeting. The highlight of the meeting was the election of officers. The positions of President, VP Technical, and VP Finance were up for election. We managed to fill all the positions and now have a complete Executive Committee. Susanne Dandenault, resigned from the position of VP Administration to accept the position of President of the MWA. Bryan Goods filled VP Technical; Victor van der Grinten will remain as the VP Finance and Hugh Brown will now be the VP Administration. Matt Blewett completes the MWA Executive Committee, as he will continue with his term for 2004-2005. Congratulations to all the Executive Committee members. On behalf of all MWA members, I like to extend a sincere thank you to Denis Van Laeken for his time spent as President. His contributions to the sport of weightlifting through the Executive Committee have been greatly appreciated and we look forward to his continued involvement with the MWA as a coach and volunteer.

Please note that there are two bingo opportunities over the summer: Sunday July 18th; and Wednesday August 25th. If you are interested in volunteering for either date, please contact Nicole @ 925-5689.

Have a great summer

Nicole Fallis, Program Administrator, Manitoba Weightlifting Association.

Note 1: Charlotte lifted for demonstration only (needed to use straps due to injured finger).

Note 2: All marker % results are based on the CWF Senior Coefficient Marker for carding.

Referees: Jon Astolfi, Craig MacEachern, Denis Van Laeken
Coach: Matt Blewett, Denis Van Laeken
Loaders: Vic van der Grinten, Richard Mason
Scoreboard: Monette Calixto
Set up: Vic van der Grinten, Anthony Densmore, David Densmore, Denis Van Laeken
Prizes: Mrs. Brick, Theresa Brick, Charlotte MacEachern, Susanne Dandenault, Denis Van Laeken
BBQ Hoast: Ruth and Craig MacEachern

Sponsors: The Brick Gym would like to thank you the following contributors. Their donations have helped to run an excellent season end event: East Side Collision -George Brick, Toledo Meat, Calabria Pizza and Restaurant, Shell Canada, Sami Jo Small, Hockey Manitoba, Safeway, Lasalle Insurance, Royal Bank of Canada, Zellers, National Sport Centre-Manitoba, M&M, Colours for Hair, Foodland, Manitoba Weightlifting Association, and Brick Gym Weightlifting Club.

OFFICIALS TIPS: by Joe Landreville

Preface
This portion of the newsletter is dedicated to the communication, education, and interpretation of the rules that govern Olympic Weightlifting. Technical rules are based on the current International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) 2001-2004 Handbook.

Officials Tip#10
Replacing the barbell on the platform before the referees' signal: this usually occurs when an athlete tires of waiting for the "down" signal because he/she is not in the proper position to get the signal.

Officials Tip#11
Leaving the platform during the execution of the lift. (i.e. touching the area outside the platform with any part of the body): for level platforms, the athlete must not step outside of the marked area. For raised platforms, the athlete may have parts of his feet hanging over the edge of the platform as long as the foot does not touch the floor outside of the platform.

UPCOMING EVENTS