An American weightlifter lifts nearly three times his own body weight, breaking a world record and making history on the way to the 2024 Paris Olympics.
On Tuesday, 20-year-old Hampton Morris lifted 388 pounds (176 kg) to set both the junior and senior level clean and jerk world records at the IWF (International Weightlifting Federation) World Cup in Phuket, Thailand. Broke it. Lift your shoulders and take your weight above your head. His weight at that time was less than 135 pounds (61 kg). He became the first American male athlete to break a weightlifting world record since Bob Bednarski in 1969, according to USA Weightlifting.
This history-making lift not only placed Morris in second place in the IWF world rankings with a total weight of 668 pounds (303 kg), but also gave Team USA a chance to win an Olympic medal in the sport in which Americans excel. It also came to mean something. Don't dominate.
The last time a U.S. male athlete won an Olympic weightlifting medal was in 1984. In Tokyo, Harrison Moras finished a close fourth.
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Morris also broke the American record in the 280-pound (127 kg) snatch in Phuket. This is the first lift in Olympic weightlifting, where the athlete moves the barbell overhead in a fluid motion. She won a silver medal in the snatch and a gold medal in the clean and jerk for a total of silver medals. China's Li Fabin, the Tokyo champion famous for standing on one leg, broke his own world record in the 322-pound (146 kg) snatch and won the gold medal.
Although the United States is not known for Olympic weightlifting, although women were first allowed to compete in weightlifting competitions in 2000, American female athletes have made history in recent years.
Sara Robles won two bronze medals in Rio and Tokyo, becoming the first American weightlifter in 53 years to win medals in two consecutive events. Kate Vibert also won a silver medal in 2020. It was the first time in 21 years that the United States won two medals in weightlifting in one Olympics, Forbes reported.
Weightlifting fans will not be able to watch Robles compete in Paris, but Vibert must secure a spot in Paris with a strong performance in Phuket to improve his current 14th place ranking into the top 10 in his class. . The 2024 Paris Qualifier will be extremely competitive, with only three women and three men from each country allowed to compete (one in each weight class).
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The number of categories has also been reduced from 7 to 5. That means USA Weightlifting has a better chance of producing medal contenders in that category. Notable female weightlifters who could be on the team include Mary Theisen Lappen in the 81kg weight class, Olivia Reeves in the 71kg weight class, and Jordan Delacruz in the 49kg weight class. They are currently ranked 6th, 2nd and 6th in the world respectively.
Bivert won a medal in the 76kg category at the Tokyo Olympics, but the new weight classes for the Olympics will be 49kg, 59kg, 71kg, 81kg and +81kg. She is currently sixth in the 71kg weight class, but since she will not qualify for Paris against Reeves, she will compete in Thailand next Tuesday in the 81kg weight class.
So fans will still have to wait to find out which players will be selected for Team USA.
