Hampton Morris wins historic Olympic weightlifting medal for USA: ‘I’m just in disbelief’
For the first time in 40 years, an American man has won an Olympic medal in weightlifting.
Hampton Morris, a 20-year-old who trains primarily out of the garage at his family’s Georgia home, ended the decadeslong drought by winning bronze at the 2024 Paris Games on Wednesday.
Between the two types of lifts in Olympic weightlifting − snatch, and clean and jerk − the 135-pound Morris hoisted a combined weight of 298 kilograms, which is about 657 pounds.
And in the process, he made history. Although American women won weightlifting medals in each of the past two editions of the Summer Games, a U.S. man hadn’t done so since 1984 − a whopping 20 years before Morris was born.
Mario Martinez (silver) and Guy Carlton (bronze) each won medals at those 1984 Olympics, which were held in Los Angeles.
“It’s amazing that I’m able to leave that kind of mark in the sport,” Morris said. “I’m just in disbelief.”
Morris was sitting in fifth place after his snatch but leapfrogged into medal position once the competition moved to clean and jerk, where he is the reigning world-record holder in his weight class.
He even attempted to add 4 pounds to his own record, which is about 392 pounds, with the last lift of the day. But no luck.
“I knew I had it in me,” said Morris, who added that he has previously lifted that weight in training. “Any other day, I would definitely have a shot at making it. Today I had a shot of making it.”
Morris earned Olympic bronze, in part, thanks to smart strategy − something he said he leaves entirely up to his coaches.
In the snatch, they had Morris start light and work his way up to 278 pounds, while four of the 11 other competitors failed to complete a lift. Then, when the competition moved to clean and jerk, Morris started with the heaviest weight of the field − 370 pounds.
Because the weight determines the order of competition, working from lightest to heaviest, this allowed Morris’ coaches to see how the leaderboard was unfolding.
