Team USA Earns 18 Medals at World Junior Championships, Men’s and Women’s Teams Both Finish Top-3

COLORADO SPRINGS - Team USA’s team of 20 shined at the IWF World Junior Championships in Guadalajara, Mexico, earning 18 total medals (10 gold, five silver, three bronze) and two American records over eight days of competition. The men’s team earned six gold medals, two silver, and one bronze for a third-place team finish, while the women recorded four gold, three silver and two bronze for a second-place team finish. Gabriel Chhum (61 kg) notably swept his weight class, earning gold in the snatch, clean & jerk and total in his World Junior Championships debut. He’s one of four men and seven total athletes across the competition to sweep the podium. Isabella Rodriguez (49 kg) and Elijah Hein (89 kg) both medaled in their international debuts.

IWF 2023 World Junior Championships Full Results

Junior Championships Stream Replays

IWF World Junior Championships Recap

Records aplenty were broken during the IWF World Junior Championships. Team USA celebrated 29 personal records being broken, with nearly the whole team setting a new mark in either the snatch, clean & jerk, or total. Six lifters in Katharine Estep, Elijah Hein, Hampton Morris, Ella Nicholson, Preston Powell, and Rodriguez set new lifetime competition bests in all three categories. Morris went 125/178/303 at 67 kg, setting new junior and senior American records in the clean & jerk in the process.

Team USA’s performance is an improvement over the 2022 World Junior Championships where the team earned 13 total medals (eight women, five men). This year’s squad tied the medal count from the 2018 IWF World Junior Championships where Team USA left with five gold, 10 silver, and three bronze medals.