Since the first Pan American Games that took place in 1951 in Buenos Aires, Argentina, USA weightlifting has won at least one medal at every one of their appearances. This past weekend, the 2019 Pan American Games kicked off in Lima, Peru, and Team USA hit a major milestone, earning their 100th Pan American Games medal. According to the USA weightlifting press release, this 100th medal mark spanning over the course of 27 Pan American Games is composed of,
- 48 gold medals
- 27 silver medals
- 25 bronze medals
The historic 100th medal was earned by -81kg team USA athlete Harrison Maurus on Sunday. The 19-year-old went five-for-six, and earned a bronze medal in total. Maurus’ best snatch, clean & jerk, and total went like:
- Snatch: 155kg (341.71 lbs)
- Clean & Jerk: 195kg (429.90 lbs)
- Total: 350kg (771.67)
Maurus caught up with USA weightlifting after his performance, and expressed how he was happy with his performance.
“I was very pleased with today’s performance. We were up 15 kilograms from the Junior Worlds in Fiji, so I can’t complain. I felt great.”
Before the Pan Am Games, Maurus recently competed in Fiji for Junior World Championships and snatched 145kg, clean & jerked 190kg, for a 335kg total.
Maurus has been one of the young weightlifters to watch for team USA for quite some time now, especially as we get closer to finalizing the official roster for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games.
[Check out team USA’s roster for the 2019 Pan American Games]
The Pan American Games are a silver-level qualification event, which means this competition is another major opportunity for these athletes to compete for a spot on the 2020 Tokyo Olympic team. The Pan American Games run once every four years during the summer prior to the Olympic Games, and this year’s event is running from July 26th through August 11th.
Team USA still have a handful of athletes set to compete including Nathan Damron, Mattie Sasser, and Pan American Champions Wesley Kitts and Katherine Nye.
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Featured image from @usa_weightlifting Instagram page.