The Men’s 85kg weight category featured James Tatum, Anthony Pomponio and Travis Cooper, all of which competed in the U.S. Olympic Trials in May. In the end, James Tatum was the only one to record successful lifts on both the snatch and clean & jerk.
Cooper was the first to bow out after he came out flat on the snatches. Cooper failed all three attempts at 140kg. Tatum hit 148kg on the snatch before missing 153kg. Pomponio, the favorite heading into the competition, looked good hitting 145kg and 150kg before missing 155kg. Chris Rodriguez Ocasio was a distant 3rd after the snatch with 142kg.
Tatum started out conservatively on the clean & jerks with a good 173kg attempt. Pomponio was up next at 178kg. Pomponio failed to lock out the jerk.
Tatum followed with a solid 178kg good clean & jerk. Pomponio was next and came back to reattempt 178kg, but once again missed the jerk.
To buy some time, Pomponio changed weight to 179kg. But after a third miss, Pomponio failed to record a clean & jerk. With the gold locked up, Tatum unsuccessfully attempted 182kg. Tatum ended with a 148-178-326 total.
Chris Rodriguez Ocasio took 2nd with 317kg. John Downey took 3rd with 316kg after missing a 180kg attempt that would have moved him up to 2nd.
