Ashgabat, Turkmenistan Nov. 3, 2018 – Team USA finally took the platform Saturday, the third day of competition at the 2018 IWF World Championships in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan. The team arrived Tuesday and has spent the days prior to competition acclimating and training in preparation for competition.
Jordan Wissinger and Alex Lee kicked off lifting for Team USA in the 67kg B session at 10 a.m. local time (11pm MST). Wissinger hit his opening and second snatch attempts of 126kg and 129kg, the latter matching his competition personal best. After a few tough calls from the jury, Wissinger didn’t post a total.
“There are a lot of takeaways from this, and things I can be working on once I get back home,” Wissinger said. “It was a great experience and opportunity, and I have a lot to learn from this experience.”
His opening 155kg clean & jerk was a no lift by judge’s decision. On his second attempt, the jury overturned three white lights due to a press out. He missed his third attempt, also at 155kg.
Competing in the same session, Alex Lee hit his 127kg opening snatch, and 165kg opening clean and jerk to post a 292kg total.
“I did get a total so I’m happy with that, and it was a good experience,” Lee said. “We just have to go back to the drawing board and be ready next time.”
Lee represented Team USA for the first time since 2016 at Pan American Championships. He competed in the 69kg body weight category previously.
In the next session, 55kg B, Caitlin Hogan and Jourdan Delacruz went neck and neck during the snatch portion of the competition. Hogan hit 85kg on her second attempt before missing her 3rd attempt of 87kg. Delacruz missed her opening snatch, but went onto hit 83kg and 86kg, coming close to matching her Junior American record of 87kg she set at American Open Series 3 in Las Vegas in September.
Delacruz made all three of her clean and jerk attempts at 107kg, 110kg and 112kg. Her 112kg clean and jerk broke her own Junior American Record of 110kg also set at AO3 earlier this year, bringing her new Junior American Record total to 197kg.
“It felt really easy,” Delacruz said of her Junior American Record 112kg clean and jerk. “I wish I had the opportunity to do more, but at these meets it’s best to be conservative and make lifts.”
Delacruz is aiming to compete at the Pan American Championships in April 2019 in Guatemala, another Gold Olympic Games Qualification event.
Hogan made her opening clean and jerk attempt of 106kg, missed 110kg on her second and third attempts. Hogan set the American Record in the old 53kg category at last year’s World Championships in Anaheim at 111kg.
Alyssa Ritchey rounded out the day for Team USA in the 49kg A session in her second World Championships appearance. Ritchey hit 74kg and 77kg snatches, missing 80 on her third attempt. She made all three of her clean and jerks, going five for six on the day. Her 96kg opener, 99kg second attempt and 101kg final attempt gave her a 178kg total.
“This was my first time ever traveling to a really really far away county to represent Team USA,” Ritchey said. “I think I did a stellar job and am really happy with my performance here.”
Ritchey hit a 102kg clean and jerk at American Open Series 2 in Philadelphia in July, and says she’ll continue to improve her total and ROBI points, as she has her sights set on Tokyo 2020.
Multiple new world records were set during the 49kg A session. 2016 Olympic Champion and 2017 World Champion Sopita Tanasan of Thailand set the world record snatch at 93kg, while taking the gold medal for the lift. Chayuttra Pramongkohl hit a 120kg clean and jerk to set the new world records and taking gold medals for the lift and total, coming in at 209kg.
In the men’s 61kg A session, Indonesia’s Eko Yuli Irawan went six for six to sweep gold and set two world records. His 174kg clean and jerk is a new world record, along with his 317kg total.
A heated battle in the women’s 55kg A session as the three top lifters all went six for six. Thailand’s Sukanya Srisurat swept gold setting all three new world records with a 105kg snatch, 127kg clean and jerk and 232kg total.
Team USA’s Jessica Lucero and CJ Cummings compete Sunday. Lucero lifts in the 59kg B session at Noon local, midnight PST. Watch live at Ashgabat2018.com.Cummings is in the 73kg A session at 7:55 pm local, 6:55 am PST. His session will be broadcast live on ESPN 3.
