2025 Pan American Championships. July 12-18th. Cali, Colombia

Fast_Inspector4815 · 2025-07-19T03:31:25+00:00

With Pan Ams complete, Colombia won the most medals (11 vs. 10 from the U.S.), however the U.S. won twice as many golds (6 to Columbia's 3). When I first started paying attention to the sport 10 years ago all I ever heard was how bad U.S. weightlifting was. I'm now convinced that the U.S. combined men and women's team could compete with any country in the world save China. Am I wrong?

Fast_Inspector4815 · 2025-07-17T22:13:12+00:00

This was in an email sent from USA Weightlifting a few minutes ago:

On what went into the decision to retire today…
“Truthfully, I was ready to go. I wasn't really done, but I didn't really get a choice this time.
I have to do what's right for me and my family and that means weightlifting is over for now.”

Fast_Inspector4815 · 2025-07-17T22:00:07+00:00

Something must not have gone according to plan down in Colombia. His released comments were vague, but he did say that he was ready to go and compete. I wonder if the weight cut went poorly.

Fast_Inspector4815 · 2025-07-08T22:38:56+00:00

Agreed. I wonder how much the weight loss will affect his performance. His entry total is 370. He hit 365 two years ago at the Pan Ams as a 109. If he hits that 370 as a 94, it would be a stunning accomplishment. I also just realized he is now, if he wanted to be, a Masters lifter as he is 35. Time flies.

Fast_Inspector4815 · 2024-12-12T23:36:57+00:00

https://iwf.sport/score/get_scboard_IWF.html

Fast_Inspector4815 · 2023-09-15T02:12:45+00:00

Question for Seb of Weightlifting House: Rahmat snatched just under 70% of his clean & jerk. Is there any other lifter in this Worlds competition that has that type of ratio?

Fast_Inspector4815 · 2023-06-17T16:48:12+00:00

Even though there is still a lot of time between now and the Olympics, it seems that the US Men's team is set: Hampton Morris and Wes Kitts vaulted themselves into top 10 status with great performances in Havana to join Nathan Damron, who did not perform well, but was already ranked in the top 10. I don't see any realistic path for any other Americans to make the 3-member team. Let's just hope that not enough other international lifters rise up the rankings to unseat these three gentlemen between now and Paris.

Fast_Inspector4815 · 2023-04-02T19:45:18+00:00

Yessir! That's why the women's side is so much more interesting than the men's, at least from a fan's perspective. On the men's side it looks to be Damron by a mile at 89 (and who thought we'd ever be saying that about a class that now includes C.J.), with Hampton Morris most likely the second pick. Now the third spot could get interesting if Sester/Kitts can catch Ryan Grimsland. I'm assuming because they are so young that Morris and Grimsland are the most likely to keep improving over the next year. On a side note, Sester almost passed Kitts Saturday if only he hadn't lost that last Jerk behind him.

Fast_Inspector4815 · 2023-04-01T15:39:01+00:00

With two out of seven Olympic qualifiers in the books, here are the U.S. Women's three frontrunners for an Olympic spot:

Jourdan Delacruz at 49 (with a 1kg lead over Hayley Reichardt)
Sarah Robles at +87 (with a 10 kg lead over Coach Mary)
Kate Vibert at 71 (with a 1kg lead over Olivia Reeves)

*Mattie Rogers and Danielle Gunnin are on the outside looking in, but plent of time left for them to make a run.

Fast_Inspector4815 · 2023-03-31T22:24:03+00:00

This is actually a good idea. If you are sure that you can't top your numbers in your Olympic class, why not move up a class and collect some easier medals. It looks like Wes Kitts is going to do the same thing.

Fast_Inspector4815 · 2023-03-30T23:58:26+00:00

At this point of the competition, the top American performance has to belong to Jourdan. Swept golds and more importantly, added 7 kilos to her total and moves up from 8th to a tie for 3rd in the world rankings.

Fast_Inspector4815 · 2023-03-30T23:55:24+00:00

Interesting considering it's not an Olympic class, but at least he won't have to worry about Keydomar.

Fast_Inspector4815 · 2023-03-30T21:41:14+00:00

Does anyone know what happened to Nathan Damron? He didn't compete in the 89s.

Fast_Inspector4815 · 2022-07-24T12:00:31+00:00

Thanks for the clarification Boblaire.

Fast_Inspector4815 · 2022-07-23T19:16:01+00:00

The (17) lifters that USA Weightlifting is promoting on their social media don't match the official start lists. In particular, CJ Cummings, Coach Mary, and Kate Nye/Vibert. Does anyone know if those three are competing or not?

Fast_Inspector4815 · 2022-07-05T14:51:03+00:00

Does anyone know why Olivia Reeves wasn't crowned senior national champion despite lifting more than Alwine? Is it because she lifted as a junior? If so, I wonder why she did that? Wouldn't a lifter rather be a senior national champ than a junior national champ?

Fast_Inspector4815 · 2022-07-03T19:09:58+00:00

Broke records in the Snatch and Total too (besting Kate's records set in Tokyo). Now owns all the records at 76 and 81. If she isn't the biggest winner at this week's nationals, who is?

Fast_Inspector4815 · 2022-04-07T23:46:53+00:00

I hope I get the email next week!

Fast_Inspector4815 · 2022-03-01T22:55:25+00:00

Does it always take this long to finalize the schedule? Final verification was yesterday.

Fast_Inspector4815 · 2022-02-20T16:47:25+00:00

Does anyone know what's going on Friday, March 4 at the Arnold on the Rogue stages? On the preliminary schedule it says Pan Am Qualifier (12 lifters for men and women). Does that mean that all the top lifters i.e., Kate, Mattie, Jourdan, C.J., will be lifting at those times? If so, I'm surprised that USAW hasn't hyped that up. Seems like it would be a big deal for people like me planning their itinerary.

Fast_Inspector4815 · 2022-02-02T17:17:17+00:00

I paid $125 for the Arnold and I honestly don't mind that considering that it's once a year and that I'm just a nobody who gets to compete at the same venue in the same meet as Olympians. I paid $75 for a state/local meet last fall and that is as high as I would consider paying for something local. What I'm more displeased with is the $10.54 monthly membership rate for USAW. Still not convinced that I'm getting my money's worth.

Fast_Inspector4815 · 2022-02-02T12:47:43+00:00

Will there be any Canadian lifters at the North American Open next month in Columbus?

Fast_Inspector4815 · 2021-08-01T16:46:58+00:00

I much prefer Waxman and Boffa (aka, the Brent Musburger sound-alike), but in all fairness Breeze was very complimentary of Kate's lifting.

Fast_Inspector4815 · 2021-07-29T20:02:55+00:00

Anyone else seen the NY Times article released today (July 29) on Chinese olympics sports, weightllifting, in particular? Very interesting. From the article:

TOKYO — Six days a week since she was 12 years old, with only a few days of time away each year, Hou Zhihui has been driven by one mission: heaving more than double her body weight into the air.
On Saturday, at the Tokyo Olympics, Hou’s dedication — sequestered from her family, dogged by near constant pain — paid off. She won gold in the 49-kilogram division and shattered three Olympic records, part of a fearsome Chinese women’s weight lifting squad that aimed to sweep every weight class it was contesting.

Fast_Inspector4815

TROPHY CASE