Team USA has yet another remarkable performance to tout from the rescheduled 2020 Pan American Championships in Santa Domingo, Dominican Republic. First, Cecily Kyle set a clean & jerk American record and swept gold in the 45-kilogram weight class. Then Jourdan Delacruz racked up three gold medals while moving the goalposts on all three American records and all three Pan American records — for the snatch, clean & jerk, and total — in the 49-kilogram category. Now, Taylor Turner Wilkins set three new American records in the 59-kilogram class en route to a third-place overall finish.
Here were Turner Wilkins stats from the competition where she went a perfect six for six:
Snatch
- 89 kilograms (196.2 pounds)
- 93 kilograms (205 pounds)
- 95 kilograms (209.4 pounds) — Current American record
Clean & Jerk
- 114 kilograms (251.3 pounds)
- 118 kilograms (260.1 pounds) — American record
- 122 kilograms (269 pounds) — Current American record
Total — 217 kilograms (478.4 pounds) — Current American Record
For reference, Yusleidy Figueroa of Venezuela took gold with a total that was a single kilo more than Turner Wilkins’. The runner-up, Rosive Silgado of Colombia, scored the same total as Turner Wilkens but earned the silver medal for having a lesser bodyweight.
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[Related: 2020 Asian Weightlifting Championships World Records]
A New Standard
Coming into the event the record standards for the 59-kilogram class had not yet been reached by any athlete. Turner Wilkens met the record standards with her 95-kilogram (209.4-pound) snatch and her 118-kilogram (260.1-pound) clean & jerk. She then broke the American clean & jerk record with her third attempt. Her 217-kilogram (478.4-pound) total surpassed the American record standard by four kilograms.
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[Related: Weightlifter Emily Muskett Ends Britain’s 26-Year Gold Medal Drought at the 2021 EWC]
Team USA’s Performance
At the time of this article’s publication, the rescheduled 2020 Pan American Championships have not concluded and Team USA has continued its record-setting performance. The event runs from April 18-25, 2021.
CJ Cummings, who competes at 73 kilograms, has already secured a new American record snatch of 155 kilograms (341.7 pounds). We will see if Team USA can ride this momentum through July when they compete on the world stage at the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games.
Featured image:@tayturnew on Instagram
