In the first session of Weightlifting at the 2016 World University Championships, USA Weightlifting (USAW) won six medals respectively between the first two women to compete. In a combined 48KG (106lb) and 53Kg (117lb) A session, Kerri Keegan of SUNY Cortland won the overall Gold medal in the 48KG category via tie breaking criteria. Caitlin Hogan, the 2015 National Champion and World Team member, won the silver medal in the 53KG category and set new American University Records in the process.
In the 48KG category, Keegan successfully snatched 64KG (141lb) to win a bronze medal. She followed with a successful clean & jerk of 87KG (191lb) to win the gold in the lift and tie Taipei’s Meng-Chun Chiang with an equally impressive 151KG (332lb) total. Keegan is your 2016 World University Champion based on a lighter body weight.
48KG Medalists
Gold – Keri Keegan (USA) 151 KG
Silver – Meng-Chun Chiang (TPE) 151 KG
Bronze – Hannah Louise Powell (GBR) 150 KG
In the 53KG category, Hogan successfully snatched 81KG (178lb) to win a silver medal. She followed with a successful clean & jerk of 107KG (235lb) to win the silver medal in the lift and overall with a 188KG (414lb) total. She successfully set new American University Records in the weight class, which had been held since 2011 by Senior American World Team member Hillary Katzenmeier.
Hogan joined only a handful of American women to ever clean & jerk double bodyweight.
53KG Medalists
Gold – Qiuyun Liao (CHN) 200 KG
Silver – Caitlin Hogan (USA) 188 KG
Bronze – Ayana Sadoyama (JPN) 175 KG
In tomorrow’s weightlifting action, Team Canada will have their first athletes compete as Rachel Leblanc-Bazinet and Tali Darsigny compete in the 58KG (128lb) weight class.
Current World University Records will potentially be breaking during the men’s 69KG (152lb) A session, where two time World Champion Lijun Chen will be competing for China. At the 2015 World Championships in Houston, Chen successfully lifted 150Kg (330lb) in the snatch and set a 62KG world record with a 183KG (403lb) clean & jerk and 333KG (733lb) total. These numbers are all greater than the current University records, which have been in place since 2013.
