United States Ready for Senior World Championships

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COLORADO SPRINGS - Førde 2025 is here. Sixteen athletes will take the platform for the United States between October 2-11 at the IWF Senior World Championships in Førde, Norway. The team includes Olympians Hampton Morris, Olivia Reeves, Mattie Rogers, and Mary Theisen-Lappen in addition to 2025 Junior World medalist Sophie Shaft, and 2024 Junior World champions Caden Cahoy and Miranda Ulrey. The 16-person U.S. squad features 11 members from the 2025 Senior Pan American Championships team that brought home 30 medals from Cali, Colombia, in July. 

Senior World Championships Start Book

Watch the Senior World Championships via Weightlifting House TV

Team USA Historical Results

IWF World Records


The United States has earned 30 medals at Senior World Championships dating back to Pattaya 2019. Reeves was the lone medalist at last year’s competition in Bahrain where she won snatch silver and C&J and total gold. In 2023, medals came from Jourdan Delacruz at 49 kg (CJ bronze, total bronze), Morris at 61 kg (C&J gold), Reeves at 71 kg (snatch bronze, C&J silver, total bronze), and Theisen-Lappen at +87 kg (C&J silver, total silver). Of athletes on the Norway team, Rogers leads the career medal count with 13. Her most recent medals came in 2022 where she swept silver at 76 kg after lifting 109/138/247. Rogers has finished runner-up in her weight class at four senior world championships (2022, 2021, 2019, 2017).

2025 Senior World Championships Team 

Name Wclass Hometown Best Snatch Best C&J Best Total Coaches Name Club Instagram College
Olivia Reeves 77kg Chattanooga, TN 124kg 153kg 277kg Steve Fauer Unaffiliated oliviareeves.71 University of Tennessee at Chattanooga
Mary Theisen-Lappen 86+kg Eau Claire, WI 120kg 164kg 284kg Wil Fleming 1Kilo marytheisenlappen N/A
Mattie Rogers 77kg Pensacola, FL 112kg 141kg 252kg Aimee Everett Catalyst Athletics Mattierogersoly N/A
Sophia Shaft 63kg Cantan, MI 103kg 130kg 233kg Zach Caswell Optimus Barbell sophie_shaft7 N/A
Katie Estep 63kg Auburn, WA 100kg 131kg 229kg Kevin Simons Alpha Barbell Katie.e.estep University of Washington
Miranda Ulrey 58kg Grantville, PA 98kg 121kg 219kg Kyle Fields Fourteen Forty Collective miranda_ulrey N/A
Anna McElderry 86kg Oley, PA 105kg 128kg 233kg Dane Miller Garage Strength annnnnamcelderry N/A
D. Irizarry 48kg Alpharetta, GA 78kg 101kg 177kg Theodore Lim Kuma Weightlifting d.irizarryy N/A
Hampton Morris 65kg Marietta, GA 140kg 187kg 324kg Tripp Morris Unaffiliated hamptonmorris N/A
Caden Cahoy 79kg Jacksonville, FL 154kg 198kg 352kg Chad Cahoy Jacksonville Strength CadenCahoy N/A
Kolbi Ferguson 110kg Lincolnton, GA 173kg 215kg 388kg Cord Gunnin Atlas Weightlifting N/A Lander University
Aaron Williams 110+kg Lawton, OK 187kg 230kg 411kg Brittany Rucker Bexar Barbell Awill59 N/A
Ryan Grimsland 79kg Winston Salem, NC 152kg 190kg 340kg Travis Mash Mash Elite Performance ryangrimsland N/A
Gabe Chhum 60kg Hamilton, GA 125kg 155kg 280kg Jeremy Warner Max Kane Barbell gabriel_chhum N/A
Brandon Victorian 88kg Fort Worth, TX 157kg 193kg 350kg Chris Lofland BlueWave Weightlifting mrvic27 N/A
Ryan Sester 110kg Portland, OR 166kg 207kg 372kg Devon Kell Unaffiliated ryan_sester N/A

Previewing the team

Fans will be in for a treat if the stars align for both Olympic medalists. Olivia Reeves returns to the world stage riding a perfect four-meet win streak dating back to the final Paris Olympic qualifier, the IWF Phuket World Cup from April 2024. The 71 kg Olympic champion has finished on the podium for nine consecutive international competitions dating back to the 2023 Pan American Championships. Fellow Olympic medalist Hampton Morris, who earned bronze at 61 kg in Paris, won out in his last two international competitions – the Pan American Championships in July and the Junior World Championships in September 2024. He has medaled in nine consecutive international competitions dating back to the 2023 IWF Grand Prix I.


Morris snatched 137 kg and clean & jerked 181 kg while going 5-for-6 at the 2025 Senior Pan Ams in July before going on to snatch 140 kg and C&J 183 kg for a 323 kg total at the VIRUS Weightlifting Series 2 in Fort Worth, Texas, at the end of August. Morris’ 181 kg C&J is the official world record at 65 kg, and while domestic U.S. competitions don’t officially count for world records, that 140 snatch was just five kilos under the 65 kg world standard. His 323 kg total is a one kilo improvement on the world standard.


Reeves currently holds all three world records at 69 kg after a lights-out 6-for-6 performance at the Senior Pan Ams where she peaked at 119/149/268. She too lifted in Fort Worth and put up 124/153/277 while competing in the 77 kg class and weighing 72 kg. The women’s 77 kg world record standards are 122/154/274.

Numerous members of the team are making their Senior Worlds debuts. Miranda Ulrey is making the jump up to seniors after stellar youth and junior careers. Ulrey took overall gold at the 2025 Pan American Championships at 58 kg after lifting 97/120/217. She was the 2024 Junior World champion and 2024 Pan American junior champion at 59 kg too. She’ll debut alongside D Irizarry (48 kg) and Anna McElderry (86 kg). Irizarry has previously made one U.S. national team – the 2021 Junior Pan American Championships squad. She finished sixth overall at 59 kg then after lifting 72/101/173. She qualified for the senior world team after lifting 78/96/174 at 48 kg at the 2025 USA Weightlifting National Championships and is coming off a 76/101/177 performance at the VIRUS Weightlifting Series 2. McElderry has represented her country six times. The 2025 Pan American Championships marked the first time she competed at a senior international meet, and she lifted 104/127/231 to finished seventh overall at 77 kg. Prior to that, McElderry competed at the 2022 Junior World Championships where she finished fourth at 81 kg. Her best international finish was in 2021 where she was the Pan American Junior champion at 81 kg.


Storylines aplenty exist for the rest of the team too. At 63 kg are Katie Estep and Sophie Shaft who have been putting together similar numbers for the past few years. Shaft has the higher all-time competition total of 233 (103 kg SN, 130 CJ) from the 2025 USAW National Championships – Estep lifted her career high 229 (99 SN, 130 CJ) at that meet. Shaft’s 103 and 233 gave her the senior American 63 kg records, but Estep has the C&J record thanks to a 131 lift from the Senior Pan American Championships. Prior to the weight class changes, Shaft notably secured all of the junior 64 kg American records (101 kg SN, 126 CJ, 225 total) thanks to performances at the 2024 Senior World Championships and 2025 Junior World Championships.


Rounding out the women’s team is Paris Olympian Mary Theisen-Lappen (+86 kg) who is coming off a second place finish at the Pan American Championships where she lifted 117/161/278. MTL has competed in just one world championship in her career but it was one to remember. She took super heavyweight C&J and total silver after lifting 117/160/277.


On the men’s side, Gabe Chhum will look to continue a remarkable career of primarily finishing on the podium. Through six international competitions, he has finished either first or second overall at five of them. At the 2025 Sr PAC Chhum finished second at 60 kg after lifting 123/152/275 - his snatch being just four kilos away from the American record. Chhum took silver at the 2024 Junior World Championships to Hampton Morris, won the meet in 2023, and finished 10th at the 2022 Senior World Championships.


Caden Cahoy and Ryan Grimsland are expected to put on a show at 79 kg. Grimsland hasn’t been on an international stage since the 2024 IWF Phuket World Cup where he didn’t register a total. He took 10th overall at the 2023 Senior World Championships (145/181/326) but has shown solid improvement in recent training sessions – in the last week alone he clean and jerked 193 kg. Cahoy has had tremendous growth over the last year plus. He recorded a 352 kg total thanks to a 154 snatch and 198 C&J at the Pan American Championships where he finished second overall. That’s a 20 kg improvement from the 2024 Senior World Championships where he lifted 145/187 for a 332 kg total and sixth place finish.


Then there’s Brandon Victorian at 88 kg who is making his second Senior World Championship appearance. Last year in Bahrain Victorian registered a 345 kg total off a 156 snatch and 189 kg clean & jerk for a 12th place finished at 89 kg. Mr. Vic’s career best total is 350 kg from the USAW National Championships (157/193).


At 110 kg are Kolbi Ferguson and Ryan Sester. Ferguson has spent the last two months working on his craft at the Olympic and Paralympic Training Center in Colorado Springs. He lifted 170 and 211 for a 381 kg total at 2024 Worlds (eighth place overall) and put up 173 in the snatch and 215 in the C&J at the Senior PAC for a 388 kg total and overall gold finish. He’s asked for recent training numbers to be kept secret for now, so definitely don’t miss his session. Sester enters his fourth career senior World Championship having last competed at the 2024 World Championships where he lifted 165/201 for a 366 kg total and 11th overall finish at 102 kg.


Rounding out the team is Aaron Williams at +110 kg. He claimed super heavyweight gold at the Senior Pan American Championships with a 411 kg total that came from a 187 kg snatch and 224 kg C&J, a 10 kg improvement on his 180/221/401 day from the Bahrain World Championships. This will be Williams’ second time representing the U.S. at a world championship and fourth time overall.




Team Schedule

All times Eastern

Oct 2

10:00 a.m. - 48kg B D. Irizarry

 

Oct 3

1:30 p.m. - 60kg A Gabe Chhum

 

Oct 4

11:00 a.m. - 65kg A Hampton Morris

1:30 a.m. - 58kg A Miranda Ulrey

 

Oct 5

11:00 a.m. - 63kg A Katie Estep, Sophie Shaft

 

Oct 6

11:00 a.m. - 79kg B Ryan Grimsland

1:30 p.m. - 79kg A Caden Cahoy

 

Oct 7

6:00 a.m. - 88kg B Brandon Victorian

 

Oct 8

1:30 p.m. - 77kg A Olivia Reeves, Mattie Rogers

 

Oct 9

6:00 a.m. - 86kg B Anna McElderry

 

Oct 10

6:00 a.m. - 110kg C Ryan Sester

8:30 a.m. - 110kg B Kolbi Ferguson

 

Oct 11

7:30 a.m. - +86kg A Mary Theisen-Lappen

10:00 a.m. - +110kg A Aaron Williams