The Pan American Championships start on Monday in Cartagena, Colombia. Seven women and eight men will be competing for Team USA. While both the men and women are looking to do well this week, the men’s team has a lot more at stake. The men’s team has not yet earned a qualification spot to the Olympics and will need a strong performance at the Pan Am Games if they want to send one male competitor. The women’s team has already secured three spots to the Olympics as Jenny Arthur, Sarah Robles and Morghan King will be representing Team USA.
The men’s team must finish 7th or better this weekend to earn one spot to the Rio Olympics in August. On top of that, if the men earn a spot to Rio, the athlete who places highest in his weight class will punch his ticket to Rio.
Here is the list of male athletes competing and vying for a Olympic spot:
- Kendrick Farris (94kg)
- Norik Vardanian (94kg)
- Alex Lee (69kg)
- Caine Wilkes (+105kg)
- James Tatum (85kg)
- Wesley Kitts (105kg)
- Travis Cooper (77kg)
- Donovan Ford (105kg)
On the women’s side, Olympic qualifiers Sarah Robles and Jenny Arthur are not competing, however, Morghan King is. Here is the list of female athletes competing this week:
- Kelly Rexroad Williams (48kg)
- Kathleen Winters (48kg)
- Morghan King (53kg)
- Caitlin Hogan (53kg)
- Jessica Lucero (58kg)
- Mattie Rogers (69kg)
- Marissa Klingseis (+75kg)
Unfortunately, there will not be a live stream available for the competition. Stay tuned to TheBarbellSpin.com for updates as the week progresses.