Mario Alvarez Martinez (July 6, 1957 – January 14, 2018)Mario Martinez's obituary
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Olympic Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece b ...

weightlifter Olympic weightlifting, or Olympic-style weightlifting (officially named Weightlifting), is a sport in which athletes compete in lifting a barbell loaded with weight plates from the ground to overhead, with each athlete trying to successfully lif ...

for the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

. His coach was Jim Schmitz.

Early life

Martinez was born and raised on a ranch in

Soledad, California Soledad is a city in Monterey County, California, United States. It is in the Salinas Valley, southeast of Salinas, the county seat. Soledad's population was 24,925 at the 2020 census, down from 25,738 in 2010. Soledad's origins started wi ...

. At a young age, Martinez strength trained under a tree with a non-revolving exercise bar and weights. He tied some of these weights on the bar with just a rope so that they would stay on while he would lift. Martinez was so strong that he eventually began bending all of his bars because of all the weight he load on. He would then take a hammer and bend the bars back into place to straighten them and continue on with his training.

Career

Martinez's lifting career in Olympic weightlifting lasted for over 23 years. Throughout his career, he earned himself 10 national championships, 3 Olympics including a silver medal and a 4th-place finish, 3 Pan Am medals, on top of being the first American to snatch over 400 lb and clean & jerk over 500 lb in competition. Martinez had very rough training techniques. He was well known for his bent-arm pulling style. When he would rack his cleans, only his finger tips would be on the bar and he had to regrip for the jerk. When his hands were to slip off, he would have to grab the bar again.

Weightlifting achievements

*Silver Medalist in Olympic Games (1984) *Olympic Games team member (1984, 1988, and 1992) *Silver Medalist in Senior World Championships (1984) * Pan Am Games Champion (1987) *Silver Medalist in Pan Am Games (1991) *Bronze Medalist in Pan Am Games (1995) *Senior National Champion (1982-1989, 1992, and 1992) *Senior American record holder in snatch, clean and jerk, and total (1972-1992)

References

External links

Mario Martinez's profile at Sports Reference.com
1957 births 2018 deaths American male weightlifters Weightlifters at the 1984 Summer Olympics Weightlifters at the 1988 Summer Olympics Weightlifters at the 1992 Summer Olympics Weightlifters at the 1991 Pan American Games Weightlifters at the 1995 Pan American Games Sportspeople from Salinas, California Pan American Games medalists in weightlifting Pan American Games gold medalists for the United States Pan American Games silver medalists for the United States Pan American Games bronze medalists for the United States Medalists at the 1984 Summer Olympics Olympic silver medalists for the United States in weightlifting Medalists at the 1991 Pan American Games Medalists at the 1995 Pan American Games 20th-century American people 21st-century American people {{Footer Pan American Champions Weightlifting Super-heavyweight Men