How 20-year-old Hampton Morris ended a 40-year-old Team USA wait for a medal in weightlifting

It’s not every day that one goes from training primarily in the garage at home to setting world records at youth, junior, and senior levels. Yet, that’s exactly what the young American did and truthfully, it looks to be only the beginning.

Hampton Morris turns heads with Olympic bronze medal in weightlifting

In 1984 at the Olympic Games in Los Angeles, Guy Carlton won a heavyweight bronze medal and Mario Martinez won a super heavyweight silver medal in weightlifting. It would be the last time that the United States would see an athlete take the podium in that event for almost 40 years. In between those two points, a boy was born in Marietta, Georgia in 2004, some 20 years after those medals and so began the arduous march toward Olympic glory.

That boy if you’re wondering, was Hampton Morris and on Wednesday he ended a 40-year-old American drought in the event as he won the bronze medal in Olympic weightlifting after hoisting a combined weight of 298kg in the finals. It was China’s Li Fabin who took gold with 310kg, while Thailand’s Theerapong Silachia took the silver with 303kg. Needless to say, the 20-year-old, 135-pound Morris was elated with his performance having come from a training regime that has seen him largely train out of his garage at home. That said, he’s set 10 world records along the way in various divisions.

“It’s amazing that I’m able to leave that kind of mark in the sport,” Morris said. “I’m just in disbelief. Now all I can hope for is that I can do even better in L.A. in four years.” Truth be told, the young American should feel confident in his ambition having now claimed a medal in the men’s 61-kilogram event given his career so far.

Assuming he can perform in the same manner on home soil when the Olympic Games roll around in four years time, Morris will cap off what has to be considered an astonishing rise to the pinnacle of the sport after winning the silver medal at the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) World Cup and three golds at the Pan American Games.