Team USA Women come in second place at the 2023 Weightlifting World Championships

September 15, 2023, (Riyadh, Saudi Arabia) – Team USA women are second in the world following historic performances at the 2023 IWF World Championships in Riyadh. Jourdan Delacruz (49kg), Olivia Reeves (71kg) and Mary Theisen-Lappen (+87kg) added to Team USA’s medal count, earning at least two medals each in their respective body weight categories. 

Jourdan Delacruz earned her first ever world championships medals and Team USA’s first of the competition in the 49kg category. Her 112kg clean and jerk and 200kg total match her American records in the category and earned her the third spot on the podium. 

Olivia Reeves made history in the 71kg category, breaking six records, earning three medals and becoming the heaviest American woman in history to clean and jerk double her body weight. Reeves' snatch of 111kg and total of 253kg (a personal best by 6kg) earned her bronze medals, while her 142kg clean and jerk was worth silver. The lift broke the Junior and Senior American Records as well as the Junior World record in the lift and total, capping off a six-for-six performance. Reeves has medaled in every one of the three consecutive world championships she’s competed at, this competition brought her personal world championships medal count to five.

In the +87kg category, Mary Theisen-Lappen won two silver medals in her world championships debut. Theisen-Lappen’s 160kg clean and jerk and 227kg total earned her the runner up position on the podium and are only a few kilos shy of her best competition performance. 

Hampton Morris made history for Team USA men, breaking a decades long gold medal drought with a 168kg clean and jerk that also set the Junior American Record in the lift. Rick Holbrook’s 1972 clean and jerk earned him a gold medal in the lift in 1972, the last time an American lifter won gold at a senior world championships. More recently, Wes Barnett won a silver medal in the clean and jerk at the 1997 world championships and Harrison Maurus took bronze in the lift and total in 2017. 

Team USA racked up 8 medals total, tying the team’s biggest medal haul from the 2019 World Championships.
Team USA’s next appearance will be in mid-October at the Pan American Games in Santiago, Chile. The next Olympic qualifier is the Grand Prix II in Doha at the beginning of December.