The emcee announced one important rule at the beginning of Event 2 of the Masters competition, a 1-rep-max clean and jerk in 4 minutes: “If any athlete gets a PR, they must give me a high-five before leaving.”
Whether it was this encouragement or the adrenaline caused by the crowds, the PRs started early and kept on coming. When Karen Rackliffe, a competitor in the 60-plus women’s division, nailed a 95-lb. clean and jerk, her daughter yelled, “15-lb. PR! Nice job, mom!”
Karyn Marshall, a former Olympic weightlifter and USAW hall-of-famer in the 55-60 division, said she would be happy with anything over 140. She finished up the event lifting 145, saying, “It felt really good. This whole day is so much fun.”
The PRs came fast and furious as the event moved along. In the athletes tent, one of the women reassured another, “If nothing else, it goes fast.”
Gabriele Schlicht — known by her fans as “Tigress” — gave a shout of joy as she lifted 125 lb. overhead. She wasn’t the only one smiling. The women set over 30 PRs as a group by the end of the event, leading to a lot of high-fives from the emcee.
The men started off equally strong when Jacinto Bonilla, the oldest Games competitor at age 72, set a 10-lb. PR of 145. Soon everyone was getting caught up in the PR spirit, and one judge bragged to another, “I’ve had 7 PRs today.”
Returning Games vet Larry Silber held onto his lead in the 50-55 division.
“I made 215 and almost got 230, but the judge called me for stepping back,” Larry said. “And now I’m going in the ice bath.”
By the end of the day, the men had set over 19 PRs. Scott DeTore, currently in second place in the 45-50 division, set a 20-lb. PR for a final lift of 210.
“I went to Starbucks,” he said. “It must have been the double espresso. Either that or I got lucky.”
For complete results, visit the Scoreboard.
The Masters competition starts at 8 a.m. tomorrow with Event 3, a muscle-up/thruster workout for the 2 younger divisions and a pull-up/thruster workout for the other divisions.