Team USA sent 20 hopeful athletes to the 2018 International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) World Championships in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan which took place November 1-10, 2018. The team consisted of 10 women and 10 men, the best and strongest of their respective weight classes (kg) all looking to give USA Weightlifting the best collective showing at an international meet in years. With the return of previously banned teams for doping violations including powerhouses Russia and China, USA had their work cut out for them.
For years, USA weightlifting has lacked any significant international recognition on the world stage due to late development of athletes unlike countries like China who goes as far to cut the webbing between the thumb and index finger of young weightlifting athletes to increase grip abilities. The 2015 IWF World Championships in Houston, Texas was a break-through meet for USA Weightlifting as the team gained enough points to ensure an Olympic team for the 2016 Rio Olympics, which lit the fire for many athletes and the program as a whole.
The performance shown by USA Weightlifting in Ashgabat proves they are a contender on the international stage. Noteworthy performances include:
-Mattie Rogers (-71kg) wins consecutive medals at Worlds for the first time since 1994 with her bronze medal in the clean and jerk this year and her sweep of bronze at the 2017 world championships which ended a 12-year Team USA women’s world championship medal drought
-Harrison Maurus (-81kg) placed 4th in the clean and jerk while setting a new senior American record and *Junior World Record while going 6/6. Notably, he broke the medal drought of over 20 years by securing bronze in the total and clean and jerk at the previous world championships in Anaheim, California
*China’s Li Dayin went on to break that Junior World Record later on in the session
-CJ Cummings (69kg) sets two new Junior World Records
-Both Maurus and Cummings have now competed in the second senior world championships at only the age of 18
-Jessica Lucero (-59kg) redeems herself on the world stage going 4/6 after bombing out (making no lifts) in the snatch section at last years worlds in Anaheim, California
-Wes Kitts (+105kg) clean and jerks 222kg to make him the lightest American to move that weight, setting a personal best for him
-Jenny Arthur (+76kg) finishes 4th overall in a stacked 81kg session after moving up a weight class at the final verification.
As the Summer Olympics in 2020 approaches, many athletes are looking to secure a spot on the team and fulfill their Olympic dreams. The qualification period is between November 1, 2018 – April 30, 2020. USA Weightlifting continues to produce many talented lifters with momentum only increasing from here.