The top weightlifters in the United States competed in the 2016 USA Weightlifting National Championships this past weekend in Salt Lake City, Utah. The event had even more meaning this year as the final two sessions were the Olympic Team Trials featuring the best of the best in weightlifting.
Over the course of the weekend, 14 American records were broken and the final two female athletes earned their tickets to Rio for the 2016 Olympic Games.
Here is the list of athletes who set a new American record:
- Hayley Reichardt (New 48kg Youth AR Snatch 70kg, C&J 87kg and Total 157kg and New 48kg Junior AR C&J 87kg)
- Megan Seegert (New 48kg Youth AR Snatch 73kg and New 48kg Junior AR Total 157kg)
- Jessica Lucero (New 58kg Senior AR Snatch 93kg, C&J 115kg and Total 208kg)
- Derrick Johnson (New 62kg Senior AR Snatch 124kg)
- Mattie Rogers (New 69kg Senior AR Snatch 106kg)
- Alex Lee (New 69kg Senior AR C&J 177kg)
- Norik Vardanian (New 94kg Senior AR Snatch 172kg)
- Kendrick Farris (New 94kg Senior AR Total 377kg)
On the women’s side of the Olympic Team Trials, Morghan King surpassed Mattie Rogers and Sarah Robles to secure a spot on the Olympic Team with a 180kg Total. Sarah Robles missed all three snatch attempts and did not post a total, but her 276kg Total at the 2015 University National Championships was good enough to earn the third and final Olympic Team spot. Jenny Arthur had already qualified for the Olympic Games earlier this year.
Mattie Rogers, who was sitting in a position to qualify for the Olympics heading into the Olympic Trials, was unable to hold her position after Morghan King’s amazing performance this weekend. Rogers broke her previous American Record in the snatch with a 106kg lift on her second attempt, but was unable to make her third attempt at 109kg. In the clean and jerk, Rogers missed her first attempt at 132kg. She came back and made the lift on her second attempt. With her third lift, she increased to 141kg in an attempt to bypass Robles to earn a spot on the Olympic Team. Rogers was unable to make the lift.
Here is the link to the final results of the 2016 USAW National Championships.
