#WorldRecord Holder & #WorldChampion Harrison Maurus with his coach, Kevin Simons in Bangkok. pic.twitter.com/FKMp0FVWCn
BANGKOK, Thailand (April 8, 2017) – Team USA’s Harrison Maurus set a Youth World Record Saturday with a 192kg (423lb) clean & jerk at the International Weightlifting Federation Youth World Championships, winning the World Championship and capping off a historic 24 hours for American Olympic Weightlifting.
“Walking up to the platform, I knew it was going to be heavy,” Maurus, 17 of Auburn, Washington said with a laugh. "It was an incredible feeling. It was awesome, it made me hungry for another championship."“It was an incredible feeling. It was awesome, it made me hungry for another championship.”
Coupled with a 140kg snatch, Maurus totaled 332kg, easily winning the Youth World championship. Maurus’ 192kg clean & jerk also set a new Youth, Junior and Senior American Records.
“It was pretty surreal,” Maurus’ coach, Kevin Simons, said. “I have been working with this kid since he was 10 years old. This is the proudest moment in my life in athletics. Harrison has the discipline of a champion. He does all the small stuff to win. He stays on top of his sleep, his diet, his training."
Maurus was crowned Youth World Champion of the men’s 77kg weight category, less than a day after his teammate, C.J. Cummings, 16, of Beaufort, South Carolina, was crowned Youth World Champion of the men’s 69kg weight category. Maurus and Cummings are the first American men to hold World Championships at the same time since Bob Bednarski and Joseph Dube won their respective weight categories at the 1969 World Weightlifting Championships.
The United States now holds three world records: Cummings’ Youth World Record 185kg clean & jerk set Friday, Maurus’ Youth World Record 192kg clean & jerk set today and Cheryl Haworth’s Youth World Record 125kg snatch set at the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney.
“It was an unbelievable day,” USA Weightlifting Assistant Director of National Teams Mike Gattone said. “Harrison came in and was off the charts. After watching the American Flag raised and the Star Spangled Banner played two nights in a row, I told our team we have to believe we all have what it takes to be World Champions. It was an emotional way to end the day.”
Maurus’ achievement happened in the midst of a new golden era for USA Weightlifting. Cummings first World Record at last year’s Junior World Championship in Tbilisi, Georgia, was the first World Record set by an American man in more than 40 years. Sarah Robles’ bronze medal performance last summer in Rio de Janeiro was the first Olympic medal to be won by an American weightlifter since 2000. Now, with Maurus’ achievement in Bangkok, the future remains to be bright for USA Weightlifting.
“This is an incredible time for Olympic Weightlifting in the United States.”
"This is an incredible time for Olympic Weightlifting in the United States," USA Weightlifting CEO Phil Andrews said. “Harrison was nothing short of magical tonight. The whole nation is proud of his achievements.”