Perpetual Pro Bowl Jets center Nick Mangold weighs 307 pounds. He has to block the Vince Wilforks and Haloti Ngatas of the world. But he's probably not as strong as his younger sister, Holley, who qualified for the 2012 Olympics last night.
Reports the Dayton Daily News:
The 22-year-old Mangold was one of 15 competitors vying for just two spots at the U.S. Olympic Women's Weightlifting Team Trials that were part of the Arnold Sports Festival held at the Columbus Convention Center.
Competing as a super heavyweight, she won the clean and jerk competition with a lift of 145 kilos (319 pounds) and was second in the two-hand snatch with a 110-kilo hoist (242 pounds) that was topped by Sarah Robles of Mesa, Ariz., who lifted 114 kilos. Robles finished first overall with a 258 kilo total for both lifts, and Mangold was second at 255.
Many of the other competitors were at smaller weights, but the Olympic berths were given to those whose scores were closest to the last five Olympic bronze medal totals in their respective divisions.
It was a big story back in 2006 when Holley played some offensive line in high school, but this is even bigger. The Olympics!
Plus, patriarch Vern Mangold explains, people actually care about women's weightlifting, unlike American football:
"As I travel around the world and talk to people who know about athletics, nobody knows about American football outside of the main countries," Vern said. "But they know weightlifting all over the world.
"Holley was a rock star in Colombia. She had Russian guys following her all around Romania. And if you do well in the Olympics, well, that (acclaim) is international."
Or at least sufficient to appear The Biggest Loser in, like, 2019.
Mangold qualifies for the Olympics [Dayton Daily News]