Kitts is the oldest and most tenured man on the Crew USA weightlifting roster at this Olympics.
Final up to date on July sixteenth, 2024
“That is the perfect weightlifting crew that america has despatched to the Olympics in trendy occasions,” mentioned senior worldwide coach Wil Fleming on Reddit in June. Not solely is he appropriate — Crew USA goes to be a powerhouse on the 2024 Olympics — however that energy is buoyed largely by 102-kilogram athlete Wes Kitts.
That is hardly Kitts’ first rodeo. Relating to the Video games, it’s his second go-round after competing for the States in Tokyo three years prior. Kitts is again within the combine for Paris 2024, which runs from Jul. 26 to Aug. 11, and can signify Crew USA within the Males’s heavyweight occasion.
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Let’s check out Kitts’ competitors historical past and map out his pathway from Tokyo to Paris.
How Wes Kitts Made It to the 2024 Olympics
Fleming continued on Reddit, saying, “[Kitts] is ranked twelfth on the earth however on day he’s a top-five lifter.” Excessive reward, however it’s hardly misplaced: Kitts has carried the celebrities and stripes for Crew USA in Males’s heavyweight Olympic lifting for almost a decade.
The Worldwide Weightlifting Federation (IWF) kicked off their qualification interval for Paris in 2022. Over the course of 4 competitions, Kitts campaigned for Olympic crew choice and, on the eleventh hour, acquired his foot within the door:
Editor’s Be aware: The formatting under reads as, “Whole (Snatch / Clear & Jerk)” in kilograms.
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A Winding Approach: Kitts weighed in however didn’t elevate on the 2024 IWF World Cup deliberately. It was a dangerous play, however because the Paris qualification process wound down, it turned clear that Kitts wouldn’t have the ability to crack into the highest 10 102-kilogram athletes on the earth.
Nevertheless, the Worldwide Olympic Committee supplies Continental slots; region-based Olympic eligibility to make sure that every occasion in every sport accommodates athletes from everywhere in the world. When the qualification interval closed, Kitts was the highest-ranked male 102-kilogram on the earth from the Pan American area and was awarded a Paris ticket regardless of not making it into the prime 10.
Kitts will face stiff competitors on the Olympics this summer time within the 102-kilogram occasion. Nevertheless, he’s acquired the tenure and heaps of uncooked energy to again him up. Yow will discover Kitts on the weightlifting platform in the course of the Males’s 102-kilogram occasion on the 2024 Olympics on Saturday, Aug. 10 at 5:30 a.m. Japanese Commonplace Time.
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