Roma Weightlifting World Cup

From January 27-31, Italy played host to the Roma 2020 Weightlifting World Cup. Because this event was a silver tier Olympic qualifier, athletes would be given a 5% ROBI point bonus for their total. Team USA sent a strong team, including V Team athletes Jourdan Delacruz and Wes Kitts. 

Roma 2020 would prove to be a great meet for Jourdan Delacruz (49kg) who totaled 195kg securing not only the gold medal for snatch, clean and jerk, and total but also setting new American Records and Pan American records in her weight class. Jourdan is in a good place heading into the final stage of Olympic qualification. 

Wes Kitts (109kg) was able to place 4th in a tough weight class despite going two for six. He’ll be looking forward to the Pan American Championships coming up in April, where a solid performance will boost his rankings and help Team USA secure spots for the Olympics.

Team USA had an outstanding meet overall, with other lifters pulling out big performances as well. Cicely Kyle (45kg) placed 1st in her weight class with a 163kg total. Morghan King (49kg), placed second in her weight class with a 185kg total. Jessie Bradley (81kg) also placed second in her weight class. Meredith Alwine (71kg) won her weight class with a stellar 237kg total. For the 81kg men, Harrison Maurus placed 2nd with a 353 kg total. Travis Cooper also ended up on the podium in his 89kg weight class with his 326kg total. 

With Tokyo looming in the not too distant future (July 24 – August 9), these results will surely be impactful for the athletes who competed. According to the schedule, there are only a handful of possible competitions before the April 30th qualification deadline for athletes to increase their ROBI score and secure the ranking they would need for spot on our Olympic team. Wes, Jourdan, and fellow VTeam members Kat Nye and Jordan Cantrell will all be in the hunt for Olympic team spots, so be sure to keep an eye out for when they are competing next.

Photos // @barbellstories