US Olympic Lifting Team Meet

[Adam Head]

The top 30 female and male lifters will be competing at GaTech May 16-17 for spots on the US Olympic team to travel to Beijing this summer. I will definitely be in attendance to watch this!

More info (wfs) >> http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/wire?...oly&id=3014588

Any Georgia CrossFitters (or anyone else willing to travel) are more than welcome to join me!

Adam

[Gavin Harrison]

Any CFers going to be trying out?

[Paul Beckwith]

Adam,

Currently the U.S. has no possible slots for the games for our men. The only possible way any men will go to the games depends on how Casey Burgener does at the PAN AM games in a couple of months. The only women whose percentages are high to possibly go are Cheryl Haworth (who I have helped coach in competition) Melanie Roach, Natalie Wollfolk and Carissa Gump. So as of now We do not have any men going and have not been able to have a full men's team since Atlanta 96.

Stephen Powell

[Brandon Oto]

Maybe one of you can explain the selection process, and how the weightlifting event works in the Olympics. I assume it's not a team win?

[Adam Head]

Paul,
I would be interested in knowing how the selection process works also. CJ Stockel, the coach for USA weightlifting Team Georgia, was definitely advertising for the meet. Two of the guys that lifted at the meet I attended last Saturday are going to be competing. I don't doubt you as you definitely know more about it than I; just looking for some clarification. Thanks Paul.
Adam

[Tom Brose]

I believe the US can still get up to 2 mens slots if they do well enough at the Pan Ams.

[Arden Cogar Jr.]

Originally Posted by Brandon Oto

Maybe one of you can explain the selection process, and how the weightlifting event works in the Olympics. I assume it's not a team win?

I'm curious about this too.

All the best,
Arden

[Guest]

We earn team spots at the world championships based on how our athletes place. Our women did well and earned 4 slots. Our men did not do so well (2 bombed out and one lifted well below expected numbers) - Casey and Zach did well and earned the team 2 spots. Then a few lifters (non-US, that is) got popped for drugs, which moved Tapei up in the rankings and bumped the US, taking away those two men's slots.

So it's possible we can earn a couple spots at PanAms. Nationals was supposed to be the secondary Oly qualifier and Olympic trials the primary (which is how it will be for the women). But since nationals and PanAms are only a few weeks apart, the men can't really perform well at both, so I believe the PanAms will become the secondary qualifier for the men.

Athlete rankings are based essentially on how that athlete's performance at those two meets compares to the world total for that weight class - in other words, it basically selects the athletes who have the best chance of medaling. The qualifying totals for nationals will be the same, and Oly trials will allow the top 30 men and women compete (which only amounts to about 3-4 per weight class average), although realistically no one outside the top ten has any chance unless they've been seriously sandbagging until this point.

The real problem is that Casey Burgener earns the most points for the US men's team, but because of the way the rankings are calculated (USAW politics), he will probably not go even if we earn 2 spots based in large part on his performance.

[Brandon Oto]

So athletes earn spots, but the actual spots can be filled by someone else from the team?

[Guest]

Yes because the points system and the individual country's selection process are independent.