Coaches from Texas Barbell club strategize and load the bar as athletes compete in the world's largest online Olympic Weightlifting competition hosted by USA Weightlifting. Austin Barbell opened its doors to local clubs, including Texas Barbell and UT Weightlifting to participate in the online competition along with their own athletes.
Gyms, home garages and even kitchens transformed this weekend into the venue of Olympic Weightlifting’s largest online competition ever as USA Weightlifting held its 2020 National Championships, American Open Finals and National Youth Championships December 3-6.
Scheduled to be held in-person in Atlanta over the same dates, the competition transitioned to an online format, because of the COVID-19 pandemic. For the Nationals and Youth National Championships, this was the second rescheduling, from May and July, respectively, due to the pandemic.
“With athlete safety paramount at USA Weightlifting, and in consultation with our own medical experts and those outside of our organization, holding this meet online was the right choice to make, even though it was a difficult one,” USA Weightlifting CEO Phil Andrews said.
Nine-hundred ninety-one athletes from nearly every state registered for this competition, which is the largest online meet held by the sport in history. The meet also crossed international boundaries, with technical officials, coaches and athletes hailing from Canada.
The usual noise and buzz in the warm-up area of an in-person meet was replaced with the occasional cheer from a coach, or the voice of the session’s speaker coming from the Zoom meeting platform.
While Zoom stood-in for a convention center or other event place, the differences between the online competition and a traditional weightlifting meet weren’t as stark as you may think.
First, the online competition follows the International Weightlifting Federation’s (IWF) Technical and Competition Rules & Regulations (TCRR), with only slight modifications. Weight changes and declarations had to be made in accordance with the TCRR but coaches used a Zoom chat box instead of a card on a table, like would happen at an in-person competition.
Athlete weigh-ins were conducted like normal, happening two hours prior to competition. For this competition, athletes were required to wear a singlet and were given a .5kg allowance in their weight, to account for the singlet. With no two scales the same, athletes were required to show their scale was calibrated, within .5kg, by placing two 25kg plates on their scale.
“We tried to strike a balance with the competition rules. We had to make the meet as equitable as possible, but also to be realistic in what we can ask our members to agree with. We are trying to keep the sport and the competition accessible to our members across the country,” USA Weightlifting Director of Events and Sponsorships Pedro Meloni said.
Unlike other online Olympic Weightlifting competitions held since the pandemic began, USA Weightlifting stayed with tradition for the flow of the competition. Other online events followed a round-robin model, where athletes would declare their changes on a clock prior to the first, second and third attempts, then lift in order by weight. For USA Weightlifting’s meet, it followed the IWF TCRR with athletes lifting in order of weight declared, regardless of which attempt the athlete is on.
“It’s always been our goal to try to make these events as familiar as possible,” Andrews said. “We owe it to our community to foster an atmosphere that is familiar, albeit in a slightly altered format.”
Like in-person competitions, athletes will not be able to escape their anti-doping responsibilities. USA Weightlifting worked with the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) to test a pool of athletes just like they would during a traditional weightlifting competition.
More than bragging rights were on the line. For some of USA’s elite athletes, this meet served as a qualification event for future international competitions and qualifiers for the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020.
While the online format doesn’t allow for new records to be set, that didn’t stop athletes from breaking their own personal bests, and in one case, a youth world record standard. In the women’s youth 16-17 71kg competition, Olivia Reeves matched two IWF Youth World Record standards in snatch and clean and jerk with 102kg and 126kg respectively. She broke the record standard with her 228kg total. She will have to wait until an IWF-sanctioned event to etch her name into the weightlifting record books.
2020 National Champions
Men
61kg Carlos MILLEN
67kg Jacob HORST
73kg Clarence CUMMINGS
81kg Harrison MAURUS
89kg Travis COOPER
96kg Nathan DAMRON
102kg Thomas DUER
109kg Wes KITTS
+109kg Keiser WITTE
Women
45kg Cicely KYLE
49kg Jourdan DELACRUZ
55kg Jessica SAXON
59kg Kelly WILD
64kg Mathlynn SASSER
71kg Meredith ALWINE
76kg Martha ROGERS
81kg Jessie STEMO
87kg Juliana RIOTTO
+87kg Sarah ROBLES
2020 National Youth Champions
11U Girls
30kg Aurora VAN ULFT
33kg Mahealani MASON
36kg Adelyn JONES
40kg Emily Ibanez Guerrero
45kg Harmony REED
49kg Devoney VILLANUEVA
55kg Ireland SULLIVAN
59kg Amelia PHILLIPS
64kg Kodi MCBRIDE
13U Girls
30kg Aurora VAN ULFT
33kg Mahealani MASON
36kg Adelyn JONES
40kg Emily IBANEZ GUERRERO
45kg Madyson ASTROLOGES
49kg Caitlin Rose EVERETT
55kg Emma HECK
59kg Brooklynn SITTNER
64kg Violet JOHNSON
+64kg Olivia BOND
11U Boys
32kg Diego YOO
36kg Jaimon MOGARD
39kg Desmond MYLES
44kg Bret TOM
49kg Nichola LUNA
55kg Finn MALOUF
61kg A.w. VANKIRK
67kg Andrew REID
+73kg Micah MARQUEZ
13U Boys
32kg Diego YOO
36kg Jaimon MOGARD
39kg Daniel MARQUEZ
44kg Bret TOM
49kg Emery GREENE
55kg Ryan MCDONALD
61kg Ryker MATTES
67kg Tevin AUSTELL
73kg Kale BUNCE
+73kg Corey ROBINSON
14-15 Girls
40kg Annaka WHITTEY
45kg Cailin BANGERTER
49kg Jaycee MANN
55kg Kaiya Bryant
59kg Bianca Miller
64kg Mia BARCELO
71kg Isabella RIVERA
76kg Andie ZELAYA
+76kg Malia LEVY
14-15 Boys
44kg Logan LOCKWOOD
49kg Vincent DEPALO
55kg Range ROBINSON
61kg Eli MEADS
67kg Johnathan BEAUCHAMP
73kg Cannon FAUER
81kg Kyle MARTIN JR
89kg Demetrius BROWN
+89kg Hanale KAUHAAHAA
16-17 Girls
45kg Alyssa DEPALO
49kg Hannah DUNN
55kg Katharine ESTEP
59kg Mallory GARZA
64kg Haley TRINH
71kg Olivia REEVES
76kg Alyssa BALLARD
81kg Brianna MAMAC
+81kg Amanda ROBLES
16-17 Boys
49kg Trevor TANAKA
55kg Ricardo MACARIO GARCIA
61kg Kye BRYANT
67kg Hampton MORRIS
73kg Alec PAGANUZZI
81kg Preston POWELL
89kg Timothy DAVIS
96kg Morgan MUCCULLOUGH
102kg Jonathan LIVINGSTON
+102 Jacob MELANDER
