Mattie Rogers won’t be denied relating to setting recent bars of weightlifting excellence.
On July 28, 2022, throughout the 2022 Pan-American Championships in Bogotá, Colombia, Rogers’ combination of overhead strength and leg power was displayed again. Throughout the contest, the 76-kilogram weightlifter captured a 141-kilogram (310.8-pound) clean & jerk to set a recent Senior American Record. The mark surpasses Rogers’ previous record from the 2022 USA Weightlifting (USAW) National Championships Week by one kilogram (2.2 kilos).
Due to that recent record clean & jerk figure, a 111-kilogram (244.7-pound) top snatch, and a 252-kilogram (555.5 kilos) total — Rogers took home three gold medals within the 76-kilogram division. It’s the American athlete’s second Pan-American title in three years (2020, 2022).
Take a look at a video of Rogers’ American Record clean & jerk from her Instagram profile:
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Notably, between Junior and Senior competitions, Rogers’ victory means the weightlifter has now stood on the Pan-American podium for nine straight years.
Here’s a top stat rundown of Rogers’ complete performance on the 2022 Pan-American Championships:
Mattie Rogers (76KG) | 2022 Pan-American Championships Top Stats
- Snatch — 111 kilograms
- Clean & Jerk — 141 kilograms | Senior American Record
- Total — 252 kilograms
Rogers’ total is her best ever from a world competition. It’s just three kilograms (6.6 kilos) of her National best from the 2021 USAW Weightlifting National Championships. Rogers unsuccessfully attempted a 114-kilogram (251.3-pound) snatch, which might’ve given her a recent personal record (PR). Current 76-kilogram Olympic Champion Neisi Dajomes owns the Pan-American snatch record of 118 kilograms (260.1 kilos).
In Rogers’ Instagram post, she reflected on what went into her latest achievement. She also looked ahead to coming potential challenges in her future.
“Definitely not exactly based on plan today, but a precious experience to prep for Worlds this 12 months, also in Bogotá [Colombia],” Rogers writes. “I worked out the kinks (i.e., perhaps let’s not lose three kilograms upon arrival again, or I don’t know … remember methods to clean with out a WWE smackdown choke holding myself). I’m able to keep this upward trend moving. Time to bid a tragic, sad farewell to the 76-kilogram weight class once more and begin our Olympic qualification within the 81-kilogram class.”
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A Seamless Transition
As Rogers alludes, the weightlifter will likely shift to the 81-kilogram division on the upcoming 2022 International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) World Championships. That contest may even occur in Bogotá, Colombia, sometime in December 2022. On the time of this writing, the IWF organization has not announced a definite date for the competition.
Rogers’ shift in weight class is mandatory for her long-term ambitions since the International Olympic Committee (IOC) won’t include the 76-kilogram division within the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris. Rogers will try and successfully qualify for her second straight Olympic Games in the approaching years. (Note: Rogers finished sixth within the 87-kilogram weight class in her first Olympics during Tokyo 2020.)
Rogers, 26, has moved around divisions at intermittent points throughout her profession. She has experience within the 81-kilogram division, as she won her first Senior Pan-American Championship in 2020 in that division. The American athlete also took home gold within the 81-kilogram weight class on the 2021 USAW Weightlifting National Championships.
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With the 2022 Worlds acting as a big initial step in qualifying for the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris — Rogers and other American athletes could have to feature within the division they plan on competing in France. Whether Rogers can translate that very same success within the 81-kilogram division to future contests stays to be seen. Given her past high-level precedent, it wouldn’t be an unlikely development.
Featured image: @mattierogersoly on Instagram