Olympic Lifting in London

Hi all I’ve been training for a couple of years and want to get into olympic lifting and if successful try out for the GB team for the 2012 olympics.

do any of the UK T-Nation members know of a coach or a good gym that will teach it? any help would be appreciated. Cheers

Where in London are you?

w 11 but I have no problem in travelling, although I don’t have a licence yet, I will by the end of the year. Do you know of anywhere?

I would have thought to be in the 2012 lifting team in 4 years time you would already have to be a world class lifter. Unless you have phenomenal untapped natural potential.

Does anyone have any examples of lifters getting up to speed that quickly?

Are you already insanely strong?

Are you prepared to do nothing but train every day for the next 4 years?

Are you going to win the 2012 olympics or just use them as warmups for your gold in 2016?

I admit it’s kind of a pipe dream, but my logic is always aim high and then you’ll try as hard as possible to get there. success or failure is irrelevant as long as you make vast improvements and make a difference to yourself. And the GB weightlifting team isn’t very good from what I’ve seen so I might as well give it a shot.

Hi,
Find the number for the Crystal Palace National Sports Centre and speak to Keith Morgan; he was (and still might be) national weightlifting coach.

Good luck with your goal.

Cheers
Chris

If you have never competed in Olmympic weightlifting and you’re in your late teen years…it will most likely take you at least 8 years to get up world class levels in order to qualify for international competitions. You may be able to make Team GB well before that, but the international qualifying standards are usually much higher than what it takes to secure a spot on your national team.

Not trying to be negative, just realize that it is a long road, not a short one. And as it was mentioned before, if your just a plain freak, then maybe you can do it four years. Good luck.

[quote]Kliplemet wrote:
lol @ making olympic team[/quote]

I didn’t wanna say it…

LOL at GB having a men’s team at all, never mind making it. The best lifters in the country don’t even compete anymore, such is the joke that is support for weightlifting in this country. We haven’t had anyone medal at a Worlds or Olympics for 20 odd years.

Unless you re 14 now I seriously doubt what you suggest is possible. The amount of work required to reach that level that fast would be nigh on impossible unless you already have GOOD technique in both lifts and you enough time on your hands to train A LOT.

Ninearms is spot on about the support for weightlifting and indeed seriously training of any kind in this country. A guy in my rugby team tried to tell me that they tested for creatine in the league that he plays in back at home…

What the hell, it’s definitely possible to make an olympic team in 4 years time. We sent a lady to beijing that had 4-5 years under her belt, then had retired for a year, only to come back with a few months of training and make the cut.

You will need talent and a strict effort, but it could be done.

[quote]daraz wrote:
What the hell, it’s definitely possible to make an olympic team in 4 years time. We sent a lady to beijing that had 4-5 years under her belt, then had retired for a year, only to come back with a few months of training and make the cut.

You will need talent and a strict effort, but it could be done.

[/quote]

He’s NEVER olympic lifted. We’ve NO idea of his current strength levels (tho I would guess they are low). But you’re still saying he can go to the olympics in 4 years…?? Not a hope.

[quote]daraz wrote:
What the hell, it’s definitely possible to make an olympic team in 4 years time. We sent a lady to beijing that had 4-5 years under her belt, then had retired for a year, only to come back with a few months of training and make the cut.

You will need talent and a strict effort, but it could be done.

[/quote]

Who is this mystical being of which you speak?

UK currently dosn’t have much of a weightlifting team to make LOL! One lifter at Bejing.

As said, get down to crystal palace! Get you head down, and get stuck in!

To everyone saying I can’t do it, remember it’s just a goal I’ve set myself to make me work harder.

whether I do it or not doesn’t matter to me, but the fact of the matter is if I go into training thinking that I’m working towards the olympics I’m gonna perform alot better than if I go in thinking “lets learn clean n jerk and snatch that’ll be fun”.

So… from what everyones saying crystal palace is the place for me to go to learn. Is Keith Morgan the best person to ask for? or is he a bit high up for a newbie to go and talk to?

[quote]Hanley wrote:

We’ve NO idea of his current strength levels [/quote]

Exactly. Maybe YOU can’t, but don’t put random people in the same boat as you. Also, if you read again, you will notice I mentioned talent. It’s obvious one needs talent to make an olympic team in 4 years time, or even just make an olympic team at all, and you and I have just ZERO idea what this guy has got.

[quote]ninearms wrote:
daraz wrote:
What the hell, it’s definitely possible to make an olympic team in 4 years time. We sent a lady to beijing that had 4-5 years under her belt, then had retired for a year, only to come back with a few months of training and make the cut.

You will need talent and a strict effort, but it could be done.

Who is this mystical being of which you speak?[/quote]

Lol mystical being… Marilou Dozois-Prevost.

Marilou was competing at a World level back in 2001. Came 11th in the Junior Worlds when she was 15.

There is a coach in west London, ex Commonwealth junior medalist, currently a PT and UKSCA coach. He’s had a couple of years out, still lifts and will start competing again this year.

He did some work with myself and guys from my studio in the city and improved my crap c&j from 100 to 115 and improving just from technique adjustments in a couple of months. He’s a good guy and would check you out to see what you’ve got- potential wise.

He does alot of his work out of a couple of studios in west london, sth ken area.

Let me know if you’re interested.