35 Team Medals, Runner-Up Finishes For Men & Women Highlight USA at Sr Pan American Championships

PANAMA CITY, Panama – Team USA had a historic performance at the 2026 Senior Pan American Championships in Panama City, Panama. The team of 16 weightlifters combined for 35 medals (14 gold), six champions with three gold medal sweeps, four Pan American records, and second place finishes for both the men’s and women’s teams. Caden Cahoy (79 kg), Gabe Chhum (60 kg), Olivia Reeves (69 kg), Mattie Rogers (77 kg), Sophie Shaft (63 kg), and Miranda Ulrey (53 kg) all won gold in the total in their respective body weight categories.

Full Results Book

Miranda Ulrey shone bright, sweeping 53kg gold and winning her second Sr. Pan American Championship in as many years. She won in the 58kg category last year, but lifted like she was still in it this year. Ulrey hit 96/120/216 to come within one kilo of last year’s total, set all three Pan American records, and beat the competition by 21 kilos. Her snatch was two kilos off her international PR, while her clean & jerk matched it.

2024 Paris Olympic gold medalist Olivia Reeves also swept gold, lifting 115/147/262 to become the fourth American to sweep gold in consecutive Sr. Pan Am appearances. She has not lost an international competition since 2023, and outpaced her session by 15 kilos. Gabe Chhum, a 2025 Sr. Pan Ams silver medalist, rounds out the three gold medal sweeps. On a 4-for-5 day, he lifted 126/155/281 and set an American snatch record, all without having to take a third clean & jerk attempt.

Caden Cahoy (79kg), Sophie Shaft (63kg), and Mattie Rogers (77kg) completed Team USA’s six individual titles. After a second-place finish last year, Cahoy set a Pan American record and lifetime PR with a 204kg clean & jerk, and took an attempt at a 206kg world record. This was Shaft’s first Pan American event at any level, and she put up big numbers to take silver in both lifts and earn gold in the total – a 10-kilo improvement on her international PR. Olympian Mattie Rogers’ three medals brings her to 26 total Sr. Pan Ams medals in her 10th appearance. Her clutch 141kg make on her final clean & jerk attempt secured her second Sr. Pan Ams title in a row, and fourth overall.

All-Time Senior Pan American Championships titles:

• (1) Sarah Robles - 5
• (T2) Hampton Morris - 4
• (T2) Mattie Rogers - 4
• (T3) Meredith Alwine - 3
• (T3) Jourdan Delacruz - 3
• (T3) Wes Kitts - 3
• (T3) Caine Wilkes - 3

All-Time Senior Pan American Championships medal count:

• (1) Mattie Rogers - 26(10 gold, 13 silver, 3 bronze)
• (2) Caine Wilkes - 22(7 gold, 11 silver, 4 bronze)
• (3) Sarah Robles - 20(15 gold, 4 silver, 1 bronze)
• (4) Hampton Morris - 14 (10 gold, 3 silver, 1 bronze)
• (T5) Jourdan Delacruz - 12(9 gold, 2 silver, 1 bronze)
• (T5) Wes Kitts - 12(6 gold, 5 silver, 1 bronze)
• (T5) Kate Vibert - 12(5 gold, 7 silver)
• (T5) Hayley Reichardt - 12(4 gold, 6 silver, 2 bronze)

• (9) Mary Theisen-Lappen - 11(5 gold, 3 silver, 3 bronze)
• (T10) Meredith Alwine - 10(6 gold, 4 bronze)
• (T10) Casey Burgener - 10(5 gold, 4 silver, 1 bronze)

Gabe Chhum (60kg)

121, 126, -130 / 150, 155, –

Chhum was the final lifter to take his first attempt at each lift. In the snatch, he hit a 121kg opener. Otto Onate Araujo of Cuba hit 122kg on his final attempt, putting pressure on Chhum to hit another lift for the gold medal. Chhum loaded 126kg on the bar, a weight he missed at both the 2024 Jr. Pan Ams and 2025 Sr. Pan Ams. This time, he hit it and jumped for joy as he set a new American snatch record. He came back and attempted 130kg, but couldn’t stick it overhead. In the clean & jerk, he hit his opener of 150, which was matched by Araujo before Jhon Serna Mendoza of Colombia hit 151. With pressure on him again, Chhum nailed 155 to put a significant gap between him and Araujo’s total. Araujo hit 155 on his third attempt, but fell four kilograms short of Chhum’s 281kg total. Chhum declined his third attempt and took home three gold medals for his first title at a Senior event.

Hampton Morris (65kg)

130, 134, 138 / 177, -183, -183

Five athletes were in the mix near the end of the snatches, with Morris and 2017 world champion Francisco Mosquera owning the final attempts. Morris hit 130kg and 134kg, while Mosquera opened at 132kg with a make before missing 136kg. Morris pushed up to 138kg and hit his final attempt to put pressure on Mosquera, who responded by standing up his last snatch at 139kg and taking a one kilo lead into the clean & jerks. Mosquera hit his first two lifts at 170kg and 175kg before Morris took the lead with his opener at 177kg. Mosquera came back out and hit 181kg to retain his lead. Morris had his sights set on the world record when he took the platform for his final two attempts at 183kg. He stood them both up, but couldn’t stick the jerk overhead. Morris claimed silver across the board and broke all three American records with a 138/177/315 day.

Caden Cahoy, Eddie Ginnan (79kg)

-150, 150, -154 / 196, 204, -206

146, -150, -150 / 184, 189, -193

Ginnan hit his opener at 146kg, matching the heaviest opener of his career set at the 2025 VIRUS Weightlifting Finals. Cahoy and Ginnan then each attempted 150kg twice, with Cahoy making it on his second attempt, but Ginnan unable to stick the snatch. Cahoy missed his final attempt at 154kg but took silver in the snatch. Ginnan hit his opening clean & jerk at 184kg and followed it up with a new international PR of 189kg. Ginnan missed his final attempt at 193kg to finish fourth in the snatch and clean & jerk and fifth in the total. Cahoy then hit his first attempt at 196kg before breaking the Pan American record and setting a lifetime PR with a 204kg clean & jerk. With gold in hand, he followed himself with a 206kg world record attempt, but could not complete the jerk after standing it up successfully. Cahoy claimed gold in the total (354kg) by nine kilos.

Brandon Victorian, Hutton Boles (88kg)

-153, 154, -158 / 188, -195, 195

-154, 154, 159 / 185, 190, -195

Victorian and Boles both missed their first attempts at 153kg and 154kg, respectively, but both returned to hit 154kg on their second attempt. Victorian received a no lift on his third attempt at 158kg, and it was upheld after a challenge for a bending and extending of the elbow. Boles came out to hit a strong 159kg and put himself in position for a silver medal before Norwin Washington from Nicaragua hit 160kg. Boles came out first in the clean & jerks, hitting 185kg. Washington had made 176kg, but missed 186kg twice to put Boles and Victorian in contention for a silver medal in the total. Victorian hit 188kg on his first attempt, and Boles followed him with a make at 190kg. Victorian and Boles both missed at 195kg, followed by Neiser Grefa of Ecuador hitting the weight to take silver. Victorian came back out to hit 195kg on his final attempt and earn bronze in the clean & jerk. Boles and Victorian ended knotted up at a 349kg total and earned silver and bronze, respectively.

Kolbi Ferguson (110kg)

-173, -173, 173 / 215, 224, -233

Ferguson caused some stress for American fans after missing his first two lifts at 173kg, the second receiving three white lights before being overturned by the jury. Ferguson came through on his third attempt, however, earning silver at 173kg. The clean & jerk battle between Ferguson and Matheus De Souza was something to watch. Ferguson hit his opener at 215kg followed by De Souza’s hitting 216kg. Ferguson added nine kilos on the bar and hit his second attempt at 224kg, setting the Pan American record and putting him in first place for the total. De Souza loaded 225kg, but missed behind on the jerk. Ferguson burnt his clock, but De Souza moved up to 228kg and stuck the jerk to take the Pan Am record and the lead. With the total out of reach, Ferguson took a final attempt at 233kg but missed on the jerk. His final line of 173/224/397 set all three American records, including his own total by one kilo.

Aaron Williams (+110kg)

180, -185, 185 / 215, 225, -235

Williams and Rafael Cerro of Colombia both called for and hit 180kg on their first snatch attempt. Williams moved up to 185kg for his second attempt. After missing it, he made the same weight on his final attempt. Cerro then hit 186kg before bumping up seven kilos to hit 193kg. Williams and Cerro again battled in the clean and jerks, with each making their first at 215kg and 220kg, respectively. Williams then hit 225kg, with Cerro following him at 226kg. On his final attempt, Williams went for gold at 235kg but couldn’t stand up the jerk. Cerro tried the same weight to close out the competition, but also failed to stand it up. Williams earned a silver medal sweep and came within one kilo of his 411kg total from last year’s Sr. Pan Ams.

Miranda Ulrey (53kg)

-96, -96, 96 / 113, 116, 120

Ulrey waited her turn to close out a 14-person session in the snatch. She missed her first two attempts before sticking the lift on her third attempt for a gold medal. With a nine kilo lead heading into the clean & jerks, Ulrey was the final lifter again, beginning with a successful 113kg clean & jerk. Following herself, she hit 116kg and 120kg to go perfect in the clean & jerk and sweep gold. Ulrey set all three Pan American records in her first competition below the 58/59kg category since 2022. Her 96kg snatch is two shy of Ulrey’s international PR set at last year’s Sr. World Championships, while 120kg matches her clean & jerk mark set at last year’s Sr. Pan Ams, although she competed in both of those events at 58kg.

Sophie Shaft (63kg)

103, 105, 107 / 127, 130, -133

It was a three-way fight for medals between Shaft, Karen Mosquera, and Yenny Sinisterra throughout this session. Sinisterra started things off with a 101kg snatch before Mosquera and Shaft lifted 103kg. The bar jumped one kilo at a time after that, with Sinisterra hitting 104kg, Shaft 105kg, and Mosquera 106kg. Sinisterra then missed 107kg before Shaft stood the same weight up for an international PR of four kilos. Mosquera raised 108kg after her to take a narrow lead into the clean & jerks. Mosquera opened clean & jerks with an easy make at 123kg. Sinisterra quickly hit 126kg. Shaft made 127kg look light. Mosquera missed the squat jerk on 128kg. Mosquera had to come right back out and, again, couldn’t lift herself out of the squat jerk. Sinisterra made 130kg look easy, celebrated hard after. Shaft was undeterred, coming out to make 130kg look routine. Sinisterra moved up to 134kg, making Shaft come out to take 133kg. Shaft couldn’t stand up the jerk, but Sinisterra missed at 134kg to give Shaft gold in the total by three kilos.

Olivia Reeves, Estelle Rohr (69kg)

-115, 115, -121 / 143, 147, -151

-91, -91, -91 / 118, -121, -121

Rohr took three attempts at a 91kg snatch, but didn’t complete the lift. She came back and hit her opening clean & jerk at 118kg before missing two at 121kg. All 12 lifters had completed their attempts before Reeves took her first. She also missed her first snatch attempt at 115kg, but came back to hit the same weight. She made an attempt at 121kg but couldn’t stick it. 115kg earned her snatch gold by four kilos. Following herself again in clean and jerks, Reeves made 143kg and 147kg to set herself up for a 151kg world record attempt. She successfully stood up the clean, but missed the jerk behind. After a 115/147/262 day, Reeves swept gold and won the total by 15 kilos.

Mattie Rogers (77kg)

108, -111, -112 / -137, 137, 141

Rogers came out to make her opening snatch attempt at 108kg. With four lifters left, she battled for 111kg and 112kg but couldn’t complete either attempts. Her 108kg earned her bronze in the snatch. Rogers then opened at the heaviest weight in the session in clean & jerks. After barely missing the jerk on her first attempt, Rogers came back to stick it at 137kg. In a huge third attempt, Rogers fought for and successfully stuck 141kg for the first time in an international competition since the 2022 Sr. Pan Ams. Mari Sanchez of Colombia had the final attempt of the session at 142kg, but couldn’t stand up the clean. That secured Rogers’ gold in the clean & jerk and a one kilo margin of victory in the total for the second year in a row.

Katie Witte, Anna McElderry (86kg)

106, -109, -109 / 130, -133, 133

104, -107, -108 / -127, 127, 132

Witte and McElderry were both in a group of six lifters in contention for snatch medals. Both hit their first attempts at 104 for McElderry and 106 for Witte. McElderry then missed at 107kg and 108kg, while Witte took two shots at a silver medal at 109kg. The group finished within five kilos of each other, with 109kg earning gold for Kelin Jimenez of Educador. In clean & jerks, McElderry missed her first lift at 127kg but walked back out to hit the same weight. Witte opened with a make at 130kg, followed by McElderry finishing strong with a big make at 132kg to match her personal best. Witte missed at 133kg, but called for the same weight on her third attempt and stuck the jerk to claim bronze in the clean & jerk and total. McElderry’s 236kg total is a one kilo improvement on her previous international PR from last year’s Sr. World Championships. For Witte’s third international competition, her 239kg total is a 15kg international PR from the 2024 Jr. World.

Mary Theisen-Lappen (+86kg)

112, -115, -116 / 148, 153, 159

Theisen-Lappen opened snatches at 112kg with a make. With eight lifters in contention for a medal, she dropped her attempts at 115kg and 116kg to place seventh. She came out strong in the clean & jerks, hitting 148kg and 153kg and putting herself among the last four lifters in the session. By the time her next lift came around she had a bronze medal in the clean & jerk locked up, but decided to go for a medal in the total as well. She added six kilos to the bar and stuck her final lift at 159kg to earn two bronze medals on the day. With her perfect day in the clean & jerks, Theisen-Lappen has gone 12/12 in the lift throughout her four Sr. Pan Ams.

Up Next

In place of the Junior World Championships in Egypt, the named Junior World Championships team will be heading to Telford, England, to partake in the British Weightlifting Championships May 16-17. The next senior international competition, which will feature most of the athletes from this Pan American Championships team, is the IWF Senior World Championships in Ningbo, China, that runs October 27–November 8.