Word: snatchings
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...Alexeyev the last time they met, and he will have none of Alexeyev's flattering words this time. But Alexeyev is in no position to trouble other opponents; he has problems of his own. He has lost some of the flexibility of the spine required in the snatch, in which a man must bend deep and sweep the bar overhead in a single, flowing motion. He also seems slower today, getting under the bar late and, sometimes, not getting there at all. He starts to sweat profusely as he warms up, a bad sign that does not go unnoticed...
While Alexeyev struggles with the snatch, Rakhmanov comes out and starts to warm up. Briskly, efficiently, he snatches one weight, orders it increased, then hoists again with equal ease. Still .young enough to curl his back and lift with supple grace, he has clearly surpassed Alexeyev. The room reverberates with the boom and clang of weights being banged back to earth. Rakhmanov takes no notice...
Then there is silence. Alexeyev has been called for the first of his three tries at the snatch. As discreetly as they can, the other lifters, coaches and officials scurry to the corner of the warm-up room, where a television set will show them the action out front. The silence is relieved only by the rasping puffs of lifters catching their breaths as they watch the TV monitor. Suddenly, something in the room drops with an ear-shattering crash. Heads jerk around. Rakhmanov alone is still warming up, oblivious to the fate of his teammate...
Alexeyev tries to snatch the barbell weighing 396¾ Ibs. He hurls it up, but cannot get beneath the bar to hold it for the required one second. Down it comes with a bang. The crowd around the television drifts away. Rakhmanov's coach signals to him: "No lift." Alexeyev comes in, smiling, takes two minutes of rest and then tries again. Up and down once more. This time there is no smile when he returns. He goes to his corner, gulps a demitasse of strong black coffee, and heads out for the last time. Again he fails...
...President and his aides have no fear that Kennedy will somehow snatch away the Democratic nomination. Whatever the outcome of this week's Pennsylvania primary, Jimmy Carter's lead in delegates still looks insurmountable. But the President's aides fret that if Kennedy carries his challenge all the way to the convention in August, his increasingly sharp attacks will undermine Carter among traditionally Democratic voting groups whose support the President must retain to win reelection...