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U.S. earns five Olympic slots at Weightlifting Worlds
By Julia Cantone // usolympicteam.com // November 24, 2003
Vancouver, B.C. -- The U.S. Men's Weightlifting Team earned three Olympic qualifying spots at the 2003 World Championships this weekend and the U.S. Women earned two, as both teams had athletes with top-10 finishes.
Led by 2000 Olympic gold medalist Tara (Nott) Cunningham's (Stillwell, Kan./Mount Pleasant, Mich.) seventh place finish in the 48kg weight division, the U.S. Women finished 15th, despite the absence of their premier lifter Cheryl Haworth (Savannah, Ga.). Haworth, a 2000 Olympic bronze medalist, suffered a severe injury to her right elbow at the 2003 Junior World Weightlifting Championships, which were held May 29 – June 7 in Hermisillo, Mexico. She is still recovering from a torn radial collateral ligament and a torn ulnar collateral ligament in her right elbow but is expected to be back in time for the 2004 U.S. Olympic Trials.
Carissa Gordon (Essex Junction, Vt.) finished 21st in the 63kg weight division, Danica Rue (Flemington, N.J.) placed 18th at 69kg and Cara Heads (Costa Mesa, Calif.) was 18th at 75kg. In the 75kg+ weight division, Rachel Hearn (Savannah, Ga.) placed 18th and Doreen Heldt (Lisco, Neb.) was 22nd, as the U.S. Women's Weightlifting Team finished with 58 points to earn two spots for the 2004 Athens Games.
The U.S. men finished 23rd behind seven-time National Championship Shane Hamman's (Mustang, Okla.) 9th place finish in the 105kg+ weight division. Hamman, who is currently ranked No. 5 in the world in his weight division, finished 10th at the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games. Since making the 2000 U.S. Olympic Team, Hamman has appeared on numerous television and radio shows demonstrating his Herculean strength, including an appearance on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno in May of 2000 during which he lifted Leno above his head. His combined lift of 929.5 pounds at the 2003 World Championships fell just short of his goal of lifting 1,000 pounds.
Oscar Chaplin's (Savannah, Ga.) 13th place finish at 85kg, Jason Gump (Metz, W.Va.) and Robert Murphy's (Sarasota, Fla.) 25th and 26th place showings at 94kg and Peter Kelley (St. Joseph, Missouri) and Casey Burgener's (Colorado Springs, Colo.) 17th and 21st place results at 105kg also contributed to the U.S. Men's Weightlifting Team's 45 points and earned them three Olympic berths.
The U.S. Olympic Team Trials will be held on May 8, 2004 in St. Joseph, Missouri.
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