U.S sucks at olympic lifting because

1. it's not a major interest of athletes, coaches, or athletic programs in the US
2. usa doesn't screen youth & force them into olympic lifting camps to develop them
3. it doesn't pay well
4. most every gym (high school, college, commercial) doesn't have real olympic bars, bumpers, & platforms
5. "powerlifting" and strongman are much more "fun" & popular in the u.s.

:F

That site needs a major redesign and readability isn't working. Will attempt to read despite eye pain.

US sucks at any sport because the best athletes play football or basketball, for the most part

Look at US performance in athletics. The man is just telling the facts as they stand. I mean, first and third in long jump and second in 400m is pathetic!

i hope you're both trolling me because it's almost working.

With the exception that USA PEOPLE don't even really exist. To take true American people to participate would mean to take those from Cherokee and Sioux indian tribes.

You're basing the success of your country pretty much totally on imigrants and former slaves and you're proud of it. Nicely done

I don't think it's just that but the kids who would be good oly lifters don't just miss out on getting exposed to the sport but get filtered out of highschool sports because they often don't really suit anything else. Especially the REALLY small ones. A lot of guys who would be really good middle to heavyweightlifter lifters will also suck at anything that involves running. Chad Vaughan for example has a club foot. Didn't stop him clean and jerking over 90% of the world record for his weight class.


The sport changed. Up until that point the US had a comparatively large number of guys lifting and had access to enough food. Other countries didn't until later. Somwhere in these years doctors were saying lifting heavy things is dangerous and Add in the rule changes in the mid 60s to allow the bar to touch the thighs and suddenly the snatch and clean and jerk mattered a lot more. It's really damn hard to snatch/clean and jerk without the bar brushing the thighs and suddenly someone with more lower body strength and better pull mechanics could lift a lot more. Training became a lot more specialized and sophisticated. With the press being dropped in 1972 it almost completely changed the sport.


You're successful in a lot of other sports despite that. It's the exposure and talent identification.


Have a look at the guys dropping some of the lowest 40 times who also ran 100m in college. They're not running 9.58 any time soon. Fast over 40 yard with dodgy timing does not make you fast against olympic sprinters over 100m with full electronic timing.