2012 Summer OlympicsMedia Monster

Holley Mangold Has Lift Off

Holley Mangold made her London debut Sunday in the Women’s Weightlifting +75kg and gave us all a reminder that she would probably be better suited than Wayne Hunter to line up next to her brother on the Jets’ front five. And older bro Nick, who got the blessing from Rex Ryan to leave Jets training camp for a few days, was on hand to watch his lil’ sis compete.

In the snatch part of the competition, Holley missed her first lift at 105 kg, made her second lift at 105 kg and barely missed her third lift at 110 kg. Entering the clean and jerk, Holley was 11th out of 14, with some serious ground to cover.

She made her first lift at 130 kg, but missed her second two, both at 140 kg, lifting a total of 240 kg. Unfortunately, it placed the American lifter well out of medal contention.

Once you get past the evocative weightlifting lingo, it’s not hard to marvel in what Holley Mangold is able to do, regardless of her results. Even more stunningly, she did it all on a bum wrist, which she injured three weeks ago and will eventually require surgery for. That is definitely the mark of someone who grew up in a football family.

In an Olympics not short of inspiring stories that have nothing to do with a dude named Michael, Holley Mangold is a star. She sends her brother Nick home assured that his sister is a resilient, admirable competitor, which is more than you can say for some of his Jets teammates.

[@PDBuckeyes, photo via]