Team USA can add another medal to their total at the Pan American Weightlifting Championships, which are currently underway in Miami, Florida.
Just hours after American -105kg athletes D’Angelo Osorio and Wes Kitts won medals — Osorio gold in the clean & jerk and Kitts silver in the snatch and the total — +90kg weightlifter Sarah Robles won gold in her weight class.
Robles, who won bronze for America in Rio last year, snatched 120 kilograms (264.5 pounds), just one kilogram heavier than silver medalist Veronica Saladin from the Dominican Republic and two kilograms heavier than third place finisher in the snatch, Mexican athlete Tania Mascorro. The American record for the snatch remains 128 kilograms (282.2 pounds), set by Cheryl Haworth in 2003.
#TeamUSA‘s @roblympian wins GOLD in the snatch! pic.twitter.com/RdMcsuHsCd
— USA Weightlifting (@USWeightlifting) July 27, 2017
The snatches were close in this contest, but the clean & jerk is where Robles really separates herself from the field. As each of the other athletes hit their first lifts and their second lifts, Robles waited. Most of the athletes had finished all three of their attempts before Robles took to the stage for her first attempt of 145 kilograms (319.7 pounds), which she easily made.
That won her the gold medal before she’d even made her second lift — the rest of her lifts were just gravy. She went on to clean & jerk 150kg (330.7lb) and finally 155kg (341.7lb) for a total of 275kg (606.3lb), an easy win over second place’s Veronica Saladin, who totaled 265kg.
Another GOOD LIFT for #TeamUSA‘s Sarah Robles!! pic.twitter.com/bERBC0jeHa
— USA Weightlifting (@USWeightlifting) July 27, 2017
That’s gold in the snatch, gold in the clean & jerk, and gold in the total for Sarah Robles, the only American to compete in the +90kg weight class. No American records were broken, but that doesn’t diminish the extraordinary achievements of all the athletes who competed.
Featured image via @USWeightlifting on Twitter.
