Team USA 2015 Pan Am Games Schedule

July 11, Morghan King (48kg) 4:30pm EST
July 12, Melanie Roach (53kg) 2pm, Alex Lee (69kg) 4:30pm EST
July 13, Travis Cooper (77kg) 2pm EST 
July 14, Kendrick Farris & Norik Vardanian (94kg) 4:30pm EST
July 15 Holley Mangold (75+kg) 4:30pm EST

July 16, 2015 – Toronto, Canada

Yesterday, on the fifth and final day of Games weightlifting, Holley Mangold competed in the 75+ kg A session.

Mangold opened with a successful 98 kg snatch, then made 101 kg and 104 kg on her second and third attempts. In the clean and jerk, Mangold made 135 kg on her first attempt, moved up to 146 kg on her second, completing the clean but missing the jerk forward, then in an effort to win the bronze medal, cleaned a personal record 154 kg but again missed the jerk forward, finishing 5th overall in the 75+ kg competition with a 239 kg total, in a 4 for 6 performance.

At the conclusion of the 2015 Pan American Games weightlifting competition, Team USA finished 5th in the medal standings, with Kendrick Farris winning gold and and Norik Vardanian winning silver:

                                                Medal Standings 

In 2011, Team USA finished 11th at the Guadalajara Games, winning three bronze medals. 

Not since 2003 has an American weightlifter won a gold medal in the Pan American Games competition.

Team USA returns tomorrow to the United States.

July 15, 2015 

Yesterday, on the fourth day of weightlifting competition at the Pan American Games, Kendrick Farris and Norik Vardanian  competed in the 94 kg category A session.

Farris opened with at successful 157 kg snatch, followed with 160 on his second, then equaled his personal record 163 kg on his third attempt. In the clean and jerk, Farris made 198 kg on his first attempt, moved up to 203 kg for a successful second to take the lead overall ahead of Vardanian and the Cuban, Vanega, then cleaned 207 kg but missed the jerk, winning the gold medal with a 366 kg total.

Vardanian missed his first attempt 160 kg snatch, made the same weight on his second, then missed 165 kg on his third attempt. In the clean and jerk, Vardanian opened with a successful 193 kg, moved to 202 on his second attempt to secure the silver medal with a 362 kg total, then cleaned but failed to jerk his final attempt at 207 kg in a bid to overtake Farris for the gold.

Next on the platform for Team USA today, the final day of weightlifting competition at the Games,  Holley Mangold competes in the 75+ kg category A session.

July 14, 2015 

Yesterday, on the third day of weightlifting competition at the Pan American Games, Travis Cooper competed in the 77kg category A session.

Cooper opened with a successful 140 kg snatch, followed with 144 kg on his second attempt, then made a personal record 146 kg on his third. In the clean and jerk, Cooper missed his first and second attempts due to press out with 179 kg, then made the same weight on his third attempt, finishing fourth in total overall in the 77 kg category competition with 325 kg, in a 4 for 6 performance.

Next on the platform for Team USA  today are Norik Vardanian and Kendrick Farris competing in the 94 kg A session.

On the final day of competition tomorrow, Team USA”s Holley Mangold competes in the 75+ kg category A session.

July 13, 2015 

Yesterday, on the second day of competition at the Pan American Games, Melanie Roach and Alex Lee competed in the 53 kg and 69 kg category A sessions.

Roach missed her opening 70 kg snatch, made the same weight on her second attempt, then made 72 kg on her third. In the clean and jerk, Roach opened successfully with 93 kg, made 96 kg on her second, then failed to clean 99 kg on her third attempt, to finish 7th overall in total with 168 kg in the 48 kg category, in a 4 for 6 performance.

Lee missed his opening 130 kg snatch attempt, then missed the same weight on his second and third attempts, and was unable continue in the competition.

Next on the platform for Team USA  today is Travis Cooper competing in the 77 kg A session.

Correction: Yesterday Colombian competitor Ana Segura placed second in total in the 48 kg A session.

July 12, 2015 

A total of 121 weightlifters from 24 countries – 55 women and 66 women - will compete in the Pan American Games this year, with Team USA entering 3 women and 4 men.  Three countries have entered the full allotment of 13 athletes – host Canada, Colombia and Venezuela. 

The training and competition venues are located in the Oshwa Centre, a hockey and events facility in the town of  Oshwa an hour’s drive from the Athlete’s Village in the city of Toronto.

Yesterday, on the first weightlifting competition day of the Games, Morghan King lifted in the 48 kg A session.

King opened with a successful 75 kg snatch, made 77 kg on her second attempt, then broke the Pan American Games record with 79 kg on her third, immediately broken in succession by her two Dominican competitors, Candelario and Hernandez, with 80 kg then 81 kg. In the clean and jerk, King made 93 kg on her first attempt after jury reversal of a unanimous referee no-lift decision, then cleaned but failed to jerk her 96 kg second and third attempts, in an effort to secure third place in the competition. In an unusual occurrence, on the last clean and jerk attempt of the session, the clock ran out on the Colombian competitor, Segura, who failed in her bid for the win with 104 kg, finishing third overall in total.

King finished fourth overall in total, in a 4 for 6 performance.

Seven Elite American Weightlifters to Compete in Toronto

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (May 7, 2015)—USA Weightlifting is pleased to announce its team for the 2015 Pan American Games, which will take place July 12-17 in Toronto.

Among the top female weightlifters in America, three women have earned the right to represent Team USA: Geralee Vega (Leesburg, Fla.; East Coast Gold), Morghan King (Colorado Springs, Colo.; unattached; United States Olympic Training Center resident) and Holley Mangold (Fort Mill, S.C.; Team MDUSA).

Four of the top male weightlifters in America have also earned the right to compete in Toronto: Travis Cooper (Fort Mill, S.C.; Team MDUSA), Norik Vardanian (Colorado Springs, Colo.; Iron Athlete Weightlifting; U.S. OTC resident), Alex Lee (Colorado Springs, Colo.; Iron Athlete Weightlifting; U.S. OTC resident) and Kendrick Farris (Shreveport, La.; LSU-Shreveport).

These seven elite athletes earned their nominations through performances at a series of national and international events: the 2014 USA Weightlifting American Open; 2015 USA Weightlifting National Junior Championships; 2015 Manuel Suárez in Memoriam and International Cuban Weightlifting U-17 Tournament; International Team Trials at the 2015 Arnold Weightlifting Championships; and the recent 2015 USA Weightlifting Regional Championships and Final Pan American Games Ranking event, which took place April 30-May 3 in St. Louis.

Each member of Team USA qualified for the nomination to compete at the Pan American Games with different qualifying lift totals.

Among the women, Vega (63kg), an American record holder, 2014 Pan American medalist, 2013-14 national champion and 2013-14 USA World Team member, lifted 215kg at the 2015 Arnold Weightlifting Championships to earn her nomination; King (48kg), a 2013-14 USA World Team member, 2013-14 national champion and 2014 Pan American Team member, lifted 166kg at USA Weightlifting’s recent regional and qualifying event in St. Louis; and Mangold (+75kg), a 2012 Olympian, 2014 national champion and 2014 USA World Team member, lifted 244kg at the Arnold event.

With the American males, Cooper (77kg), a 2013-14 USA World Team member, 2013 national champion and 2014 Pan American medalist, lifted 327kg at the recent USA Weightlifting Regional event in St. Louis to earn his nomination; Vardanian (94kg), a national champion and previous snatch American record holder, lifted 368kg at the Arnold event; Lee (69kg), a USA World Team member, USA World University Team member and American Open champion, lifted 304kg at the 2014 USA Weightlifting American Open, setting an American record in the process; and Farris (94kg), a 2008 and 2012 Olympian, holder of multiple American records, World University Games medalist and five-time national champion, lifted 366kg at USA Weightlifting’s recent event in St. Louis.

The 2015 U.S. Pan American Weightlifting Team is subject to approval by the United States Olympic Committee.

*July 2, 2015-UPDATE-After publication of this announcement Gera Lee Vega has withdrawn from the competition. According to our published procedures the next eligible athlete is Melanie Roach (53kg) (Bonney Lake, WA).

2015 Pan Am Games Announcement

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (April 14, 2015)—The International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) and Toronto 2015 Pan American Games Organizing Committee has this weekend communicated to USA Weightlifting and United States Olympic Committee that the United States will be awarded one additional male and one additional female allocation at the 2015 Toronto Pan American Games, following a re-calculation of scoring by the Pan American Weightlifting Federation.

This increases the total allocation of available slots to four (4) Men and three (3) Women.

The Pan American Games selection procedures and ranking events remain unchanged, and can be viewed along with the current rankings here:

http://www.teamusa.org/USA-Weightlifting/Resources/Athlete-Information-and-Programs/Athlete-and-Staff-Qualification-and-Team-Selection

The final ranking event is the 4/30-5/3 Regional Event in St. Louis, MO.