Over the weekend, Team USA concluded their strong performance at the 2018 IWF Junior World Championships, which took place in Tashkent, Uzbekistan from July 6th to the 14th. The world’s best junior weightlifters came to take the platform in this epic showdown of athleticism.
USA Weightlifting not only brought home a substantial amount of hardware (18 total medals in total), but they walked away with a first place team finish for the women and fourth place finish for the men.
This Junior Worlds has by far been the most successful year for USA Weightlifting, and this year’s medal count tops USA Weightlifting’s previous best Junior Worlds performance by a very strong and promising 10 medals.
Medals 1-6
Team USA kicked off their historic Junior Worlds performance with Jordan Delacruz sweeping silver in the women’s 53kg competition on July 8th. Then on July 9th, CJ Cummings had a strong performance as he swept gold and claimed yet another Junior World Championship, which made it a historic 3-peat for this young weightlifting star.
Total Medal Count: 6 = 3 Golds, 3 Silvers
Medals 7-12
Two days later on July 11th, Team USA found themselves with three more silvers from budding 69kg weightlifter Kate Vibert. This was Vibert’s first ever international competition, and needless to say, she’s showing great promise as an up and coming competitor.
Later that day, Harrison Maurus (85kg) walked away with a bronze medal in total and a gold in clean & jerk. Remember, Maurus has since moved up from 77kg to 85kg after the 2017 IWF World Championships, so this was his first international competition medaling as an 85kg athlete.
Total Medal Count: 11 = 4 Golds, 6 Silvers, 1 Bronze
Medals 12-18
A day later following Vibert and Maurus’ strong performances, Meredith Alwine ended up sweeping silver in the 75kg women’s weight class. Alwine, normally a 69kg weightlifter, held her own in a stacked 75kg weight class.
The final two athletes to bring home hardware for Team USA were Juliana Riotto (90kg) and Ashamarie Bentiez (+90kg). Riotto ended up bringing home the most diverse arrangement of medals earning a gold in the snatch, a silver in total, and a bronze in the clean & jerk. Bentiez took home bronze in the snatch, and is the first athlete from USA Weightlifting’s recruiting project to medal at a world level.
Total Medal Count: 18 = 5 Golds, 10 Silvers, 3 Bronze
| Women’s Team – 1st Place | Men’s Team – 4th Place |
| Gold: 1 | Gold: 4 |
| Silver: 10 | Silver: 0 |
| Bronze: 2 | Bronze: 1 |
After this strong performance, USA Weightlifting continues to demonstrate that there’s a bright future for the young athletes in the sport throughout the United States. Hopefully we continue to see USA pick up momentum on the platform at the international and world level.
Editor’s Note: BarBend is the Official Media Partner of USA Weightlifting. The two organizations maintain editorial independence unless otherwise noted on specific content projects.
Feature image from @usa_weightlifting Instagram page.
