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Rohan Murphy Finishes Seventh, Andy Wise Scratches on Day One at the 2007 Parapan American Games
By Cecil Bleiker
// USOC Media Services
// August 13, 2007
RIO DE JANEIRO – Rohan Murphy (University Park, Pa.), the second youngest lifter in today’s competition, performed a personal best lift today to finish seventh in the men’s lightweight open category today at the 2007 Parapan American Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Murphy’s lift of 130kg would have won a bronze medal if he were just competing against lifters in his own 56kg weight class, but for this event, the Howe System is being used to determine the top lifters. The Howe system combines various weight categories and determines the top lifter based on a formula incorporating the ratio of weight lifted to the body weight of the competitor.
“I wish I could have gotten over 300 (pounds) on my lifts, but I’ve just got to go back to the U.S. and work hard,” said Murphy. “That was a personal best for me and I know I can go up more. My wrestling career at Penn State is over so I’ll be powerlifting full time now. This experience makes me really excited for the Paralympics. Everybody tells me that the Paralympics is like ten times bigger, but I can’t imagine anything bigger than this. It’s pretty cool being here with all of the sports. Tonight I think I’ll go see the men’s sitting volleyball team practice and our women’s basketball team play.”
With the combined weight classes, Andy Wise (Needham, Mass.) found himself in the same weight category as his teammate Murphy. Wise had a rough afternoon in Pavilion 3B of the Riocentro Convention Center as he was unable to post a score, not making a qualified lift of his opening weight of 152.5kg in his three attempts.
Two-time Paralympian Mary Stack (Ann Arbor, Mich.) will take the platform tomorrow for Team USA in the women’s heavyweight open category. Stack is scheduled to compete at 11:50 Rio time. The session is scheduled to start at 10:30.
The fourth and final member of the 2007 U.S. Parapan American Games Powerlifting Team is Kortney Clemons (University Park, Pa.), a member of the U.S. Olympic Committee Paralympic Military Program. Clemons will compete in the men’s heavyweight open category on Wednesday, August 15 at 10:30.
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