Olivia Reeves won the United States’ first Olympic gold medal in weightlifting in 24 years at the Paris Olympics on Friday.
Reeves lifted 117kg (390lbs) in the snatch and 145kg (320lbs) in the clean and jerk for a total of 262kg to beat Mari Sánchez of Colombia by five kilograms in the women’s 71kg division. Angie Palacios of Ecuador took the bronze.
Reeves, from Hixson, Tennessee, seemed calm during the competition, but said later she had been feeling the nerves. Reeves said she wanted to treat the Olympics as just another event, “and I got more nervous than all the others, so it didn’t really work.”
During the medal ceremony, Reeves wiped away tears and took deep breaths as the US anthem played.
“I’ve heard the national anthem before. I’ve been on the podium before,” she said. “But this is the Olympics, and to be here, be the Olympic champion hasn’t sunk in yet. I’m not quite sure, but I’m trying to process it.”
Reeves opted for higher starting weights than her opponents in both parts of the competition, and completed her first five lifts. Her only failed lift came on a 150kg (131lbs) clean-and-jerk attempt with the gold medal already in the bag.
The US last won an Olympic gold medal in weightlifting in Sydney in 2000, when Tara Nott won the lightest women’s division. That was the first Olympic Games to include women’s weightlifting on the program.
“I hope that this can inspire any young girl who wants to do this. I think to be a representative in this sport means a lot, and I’m proud to have that role,” Reeves said.
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Reeves’ gold followed an historic bronze medal for Hampton Morris on Wednesday, the first Olympic medal of any kind for a US men’s weightlifter since the 1984 Los Angeles Games.
