USA Weightlifting Recruiting

Building the Next Generation of American Weightlifters

The Athlete Identification & Recruitment Initiative is a targeted USA Weightlifting effort designed to identify exceptional athletes from non-weightlifting sports whose physical qualities, movement characteristics, and long-term potential align with the demands of Olympic-style weightlifting.

This initiative is not grassroots development and is not intended for mass participation. Its purpose is to support the high-performance pipeline by identifying outlier athletes—often nearing the end of high school or collegiate eligibility—who may be capable of transitioning into weightlifting and becoming difference-makers at the highest level of the sport.

Elite weightlifters are rarely developed by chance.

Across sports such as football, gymnastics, track & field, wrestling, softball, and others, there are athletes with rare combinations of:

• Explosive strength and power
• Coordination and positional awareness
• Trainability and adaptability
• Competitive maturity

Many of these athletes have never been exposed to Olympic weightlifting, or have trained only portions of the lifts within broader strength programs (IE: power cleans and power jerks as opposed to full cleans and split jerks).

This initiative exists to: 

Strength & conditioning coaches and sport coaches are central to this initiative. Coaches:

• Know their athletes’ training history and physical ceilings
• Understand context behind performance numbers
• Recognize intangibles such as coachability, resilience, and competitive mindset

This initiative relies on coach judgment, supported by objective benchmarks—not solely on raw numbers or isolated tests.

This initiative may be appropriate for athletes who:

• Come from power- and speed-dominant sports
• Demonstrate explosive strength and coordination
• Are approaching the end of high school, collegiate, or other competitive eligibility
• Have the capacity to shift focus toward weightlifting as a primary sport
• Are motivated to pursue a high-performance training environment

Athletes from any sport will be considered if they demonstrate the qualities we are looking for as USA Weightlifting builds toward the Los Angeles 2028 and Brisbane 2032 Olympic Games.

USA Weightlifting’s National Team Program (NTP) uses A and B performance standards as reference benchmarks to contextualize competitive readiness.

For the purposes of this initiative:

• Benchmarks are used to frame potential, not to exclude athletes
• They provide context, not guarantees of selection
• Technical execution and movement quality remain essential

Click here to view USAW's recruiting benchmark standards

Why Supporting Lifts Are Included

Not all training environments regularly perform the snatch and clean & jerk.

To support coaches and athletes from diverse sport backgrounds, benchmark totals are:

• Broken into typical snatch (~45%) and clean & jerk (~55%) distributions
• Contextualized using commonly accepted ratios for:
  • Back Squat
  • Front Squat
  • Power Clean

These reference values help coaches visualize where an athlete may be tracking relative to weightlifting standards, even if the competition lifts are not yet fully trained.

These benchmarks are intended as developmental reference points, not linear expectations. Progress is rarely constant and is influenced by biological age, training age, exposure history, body composition, injury history, and genetics.

Men’s Junior A – 110 kg bodyweight class

• Total: 349 kg
• Approximate breakdown:
  • Snatch: ~45%
  • Clean & Jerk: ~55%

Supporting lift reference values are derived from this clean & jerk estimate using commonly accepted strength ratios. Values are shown in kilograms, with pound conversions provided for clarity, as many U.S. training environments operate in pounds. Official standards are defined in kilograms. Pound values are provided as conversions only.

Participation in this initiative does not guarantee national team selection, but it does provide structured visibility and informed evaluation within the USA Weightlifting development pipeline. Evaluation within this initiative is contextual and selective. It considers:

The Athlete Identification & Recruitment Initiative is coordinated by Jim Malone, Coordinator of Athlete Identification & Recruitment for USA Weightlifting, working within Scouting, Talent Development, High Performance, and Recruitment.

This initiative emphasizes:

• Responsible athlete transitions
• Collaboration with coaches and athletic programs
• Alignment with USA Weightlifting’s long-term high-performance vision

Coaches and athletes interested in learning more or initiating a discussion are encouraged to connect with Coach Malone at the email below:

📧 Jim.Malone@usaweightlifting.org

Click here to view USAW's recruiting benchmark standards

This initiative exists to support informed, strategic talent identification—connecting exceptional athletes with Olympic-style weightlifting at the right moment in their athletic careers. Coaches play a vital role in this process, and USA Weightlifting values thoughtful collaboration as we build toward future international success.