The US Announces Their Weightlifting Olympics Roaster 

We’re just two months away from the start of the Olympic Games in Paris – the most anticipated sporting competition of the year.

With all eyes on the Games, the countries are slowly unveiling which athletes they’ve chosen to represent the flag and hopefully bring home silverware. 

In 2024, the United States is sending to the Olympic Games their strongest set of weightlifters to date. Not only are these athletes some of the best in the world, but all of them have an actual shot at winning the gold medal.

The list of the five Olympians that will be representing the USA includes: 

• Jourdan Delacruz (Women 49 KG)
• Hampton Morris ( Men 61 KG)
• Olivia Reeves (Women 71 KG)
• Wes Kitts (Men 102 KG)
• Mary Theisen-Lappen (Women +81 KG)

Let’s examine every athlete in closer detail so you can all be prepared for what you’re about to witness in Paris.

Jourdan Delacruz (49 kg) 

For Jourdan Delacruz, this is a second time making the Olympic roaster, and for her, it’s been all about redemption. After making it to the Tokyo roaster, she failed to register a Total in the competition and went home disappointed at her performance.

In 2018, when Delacruz first competed in the World Championships, she finished 13th, and last year, in Riyadh, she managed to win her first-ever medal (bronze) from the World Championships.

Even though she showed good results last year, she hasn’t competed since September, but hopefully, she’s ready to bring her best form to the Olympics. 

Hampton Morris (61 kg) 

Hampton Morris is a phenomenon and a record-breaker for the US. Earlier this year, he broke a 50-year-old US world record drought in Men’s weightlifting by lifting 176 kg in the Clean & Jerk – a weight nearly three times his own body weight.

His achievement is not just a personal triumph, but it also marks a significant milestone for Team USA.

He’s now Team USA’s best hope of winning a gold medal in the men’s weightlifting competition in years, even though it’s expected that Li Fabin from China will ultimately take home the ultimate prize. 

Olivia Reeves (71 kg) 

Since 2016, the American weightlifting team has gone through what can only be described as a resurgence.

Just consider the fact that at last year’s World Championships, the US’s women’s contingent ranked second in the competition, and that happened mainly because of talented women like Olivia Reeves.

She currently holds three junior world records in the 71 kg women’s category, three senior American records in the women’s 71 kg category, and is the number-one ranked 71 kg Olympian, heading into Paris as the favorite for the gold medal. 

Wes Kitts (102 kg) 

Kitts is the oldest and most experienced weightlifter on the American roaster. He has already been to the Olympic Games in Tokyo and is ready to compete again, even as he has matured in his personal life.

Kitts holds three American records in the 109 kg men’s category and two American records in the men’s 102 kg category. Along with that, he has three Pan-American Championships on his.

resume and is ready to compete with some of the best athletes in the world, although a podium for him seems unlikely at this point. 

Mary Theisen-Lappen (+81KG)

The US team has always had a presence in the women’s super-heavyweight categories, thanks to Sarah Robles. However, she has now given the reins to newcomer Mary Theisen-Lappen.

So far in her career, she has won the Pan-American Championships twice, has won a silver medal from last year’s World Championships and is the number-five ranked +81 kg Olympian. In the last few years, Theisen-Lappen has just kept on improving year-in and year-out, so it won’t be shocking if she manages to win a medal in Paris. 

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