Donovan Ford and Wesley Kitts did exactly what they needed to do Saturday afternoon in Team USA’s bid to earn a qualifying spot to the Olympics. With Team USA needing two solid scores from the 105kg lifters, Ford came through with a 6-for-6 performance for a 373kg total good for a silver medal.
Kitts came out and missed his first snatch attempt at 152kg, but followed up with the same weight, this time successfully. For his third attempt, Kitts jumped up 13kg to 165kg and made the lift. The risky move bumped him up from 8th to 5th place in the snatch. Kitts started the clean and jerks with a good 188kg lift. Like the snatch, Kitts made another big jump to 201kg, but this time he was unable to finish the lift. Rather than repeat the weight, Kitts increased his last attempt to 208kg, but again failed the lift. Kitts finished with a 353kg total, good for 4th place.
Ford and Kitts earned Team USA 25 and 22 points, respectively. The 47 points vault Team USA into 6th place and into a qualifying position with one session, +105kg, remaining. If Caine Wilkes posts a total, Team USA is guaranteed a spot in the Olympics.
