The United States is sending its best and brightest weightlifters to the world stage in 2022. On Tuesday, Sep. 13, 2022, USA Weightlifting (USAW) publicized the roster of athletes they’re sending to compete at the upcoming International Weightlifting Federation‘s (IWF) World Weightlifting Championships (WWC).
The 2022 WWC, which will begin in Colombia’s sprawling capital of Bogotá on Dec. 5 and run until the 16th, is the most competitive and esteemed annual event in the sport of Olympic lifting.
In that vein, USAW has amassed an Avengers roster of competitive veterans, former Olympians, and promising newcomers alike to take Bogotá by storm. Here are all 20 athletes that will compete for the States:
Team USA World Weightlifting Championships Roster 2022
Women’s Roster
- CiCi Kyle (45KG)
- Jourdan Delacruz (49KG)
- Hayley Reichardt (49KG)
- Shayla Moore Hutchins (55KG)
- Taylor Wilkins (59KG)
- Olivia Reeves (71KG
- Kate Vibert (71KG)
- Mattie Rogers (81KG)
- Juliana Riotto (87KG)
- Sarah Robles (+87KG)
The two alternates for the women on Team USA are 87-kilogram Laura Alexander and 71-kilogram Meredith Alwine. USAW notes that Alwine, who won the 2021 WWC, fell just outside the extremely-competitive battle to represent the States in her class.
The IWF prohibits any country from entering more than two athletes in a given weight category at Worlds.
Men’s Roster
- Gabe Chhum (55KG)
- Hampton Morris (61KG)
- Ryan Grimsland (73KG)
- Jacob Horst (73KG)
- Travis Cooper (81KG)
- CJ Cummings Jr. (81KG)
- Beau Brown (89KG)
- Nathan Damron (89KG)
- Wes Kitts (102KG)
- Ryan Sester (102KG)
For the men, 89-kilogram Derek Beauchamp and 67-kilogram Matthew McCullough will serve as standby alternates in the event one of the rostered athletes needs to withdraw.
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Notably, the Men’s roster for the 2022 WWC does not contain any athlete in the heavyweight or super-heavyweight divisions. Team USA has opted to send competitors to Worlds in those categories for the last 24 years.
The Best in the States
The 2022 American roster for Worlds is among the States’ most accomplished in history. The USA is sending four prior World medalists to compete in Colombia (Rogers, Robles, Reeves, and Vibert), the highest number in nearly 20 years.
Rogers is the most decorated athlete on the roster, with 10 Senior World medals to her name since the competition was held in Anaheim, CA, in 2017. She will be joined by several of her Tokyo Olympics teammates, including 71-kilogram silver medalist Vibert, who recently had to withdraw from the 2022 Pan-American Championships due to a meniscus injury.
81-kilogram Cummings Jr. and 102-kilogram Kitts, Tokyo Olympians themselves, will also appear at their first IWF event since the Games.
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However, the younger athletes debuting for the first time in Bogotá are just as ferocious as their more tenured teammates. 49-kilogram Reichardt has already logged five Youth and Junior World Championships appearances and is more than ready to bring that competitive coolness to the Senior stage.
Among the males, 73-kilogram first-timer Grimsland has been hard at work preparing for Worlds. He recently smashed a 210-kilogram split jerk in training, two kilos over the current 81-kilogram clean & jerk World Record held by Bulgaria’s Karlos Nasar.
61-kilogram Morris, a multi-World-Record holder himself, also clean & jerked 163 kilograms in the gym, one kilo ahead of his own Junior World Record. And he did it for two reps.
Many of the other athletes on the Worlds roster have posted comparable feats of strength over the course of the year and, perhaps most remarkably, 19 of the 20 have earned a World-level medal before.
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Between the composure of those who have seen many Worlds already and the fiery lifting from some of the States’ brightest rising stars, the Team USA roster for the 2022 WWC is surely to be a threat to the podium come December.
The Pathway to Paris
The 2022 WWC is more than just an opportunity to find out who the best weightlifters in the world are this year. The event also formally kicks off the qualification cycle for the upcoming 2024 Olympic Games.
Bogotá is the first of seven critical competitions for Paris hopefuls. Those wishing to contend for a slot at the Games can stake their claim by registering the highest Total (the sum of the athlete’s best snatch and clean & jerk) possible.
The stakes are higher than ever for the American weightlifters in Colombia this year. Judging by their histories, though, they’ll have no problem rising to the occasion.
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.
Featured Image: William Johnson / BarbellStories
