20 Set to Represent Team USA at IWF World Junior Championships

COLORADO SPRINGS - Team USA is ready for the 2023 IWF World Junior Championships. Competition runs Nov. 15-23 in Guadalajara, Mexico, and the United States will be well represented by 20 total lifters. Team staff for the trip includes Sean Rigsby, Jackie Black, USAW technical director Pyrros Dimas, and team doctor Josh Walters. Rigbsy is serving as the USA head coach for the trip, while Black is the team leader. Competing athletes include 2022 61 kg junior world title winner and 2024 Olympic hopeful Hampton Morris (67kg), and 55 kg world youth snatch (89kg) and total (198kg) record holder Katharine Estep (64kg). Lifting is expected to stream live via the IWF’s YouTube channel, with results updated on the IWF results page. 

Full IWF World Junior Championships Start Book and Regulations

IWF’s Competition Preview

The 2022 Junior Championships saw Morris claim his 61 kg gold medal off a 116 kg snatch and 160 kg C&J for a 276 kg total - seven kilos ahead of Turkey’s Kaan Kahriman. Estep is the only other returning USA medallist from the 2022 junior championships. She earned silver in 2022 at 59 kg after lifting 91 kg and 109 kg for a 200 kg total. Estep’s total was three kilos short of Daphne Guillen Vazquez’ (Mexico) 203. 

2023 IWF World Junior Weight Categories

Men: 55kg, 61kg, 67kg, 73kg, 81kg, 89kg, 96kg, 102kg, 109kg, +109kg

Women: 45kg, 49kg, 55kg, 59kg, 64kg, 71kg, 76kg, 81kg, 87kg, +87kg