It has been 24 years since women were allowed to compete in weightlifting at the Olympic Games for the first time.

Team USA’s Olivia Reeves was just three years old when Tara Nott-Cunningham won the country’s first and only gold medal. Now 21-year-old Reeves is aiming to break a world record at the Paris Olympics, and if all goes to plan, she could make history on her way to becoming one of the USA’s greatest weightlifters.

Reeves will compete in the women’s 155-pound event on Friday, August 9 at 1:30 p.m. ET. You can stream live on Peacock or watch on USA Network at 5:30 p.m. ET.

“Becoming an Olympian was the best experience and no matter what happens tomorrow, I am proud to have earned the title,” she wrote in a caption on Instagram.

Weightlifters from China normally dominate the sport, but changes to the qualification process meant each country was only allowed to send three women and three men to Paris 2024, one for each weight class. The number of weight classes was also reduced from 14 to 10.

China’s Liao Guifang, 2023 world champion and world record holder in weightlifting (273 kg), would have been Reeves’ biggest rival in the fight for gold, but was not selected for the team.

Reeves is by no means without competition.

Ecuador’s Angie Palacios Dájomes won the silver medal at the 2023 World Championships, surpassing Reeves’ total by 2 kg. After her sixth place in Tokyo, she is aiming for first place in Paris. Another likely contender for gold is Loredana Toma of Romania, six-time European champion in a row.

Reeves’ parents own a CrossFit gym and she has been competing since she was a teenager. She holds an impressive 15 American records in the youth, junior and senior categories.

She is the 2023 World Championship gold medalist in the 71 kg class and fans expect her to soon break the world record in both the snatch (121 kg) and the clean and jerk (154 kg). Reeves’ personal bests currently stand at 120 kg in the snatch and 151 kg in the clean and jerk, and she can easily break at least the Olympic records (115 kg and 148 kg).

If those numbers mean nothing to you, you should know that Reeves is incredibly strong. According to the number published by NPR, she can lift more than three times her body weight. That’s 224 kg, or almost 500 pounds, and she’s only getting stronger.

According to USA Weightlifting, she has increased her total weight by 26 kg since the first Olympic qualifier.

Olympic Weightlifting Schedule

Meet Deon “Sonnie” Casey. Raised by his grandmother after the death of his parents, Deon is now a single father himself. And after some early mistakes that led to a prison sentence, he is now determined to give his son a better life. Today, he finds strength and solace in competitive weightlifting and sees each day as a new opportunity to prove his strength.

Movements and rules in Olympic weightlifting

The snatch and clean and jerk are powerful movements in which athletes lift huge weights on the barbell, often more than twice their body weight, over their head in a matter of seconds.

These movements seem simple, but are incredibly technical and it can take several years to master the efficient movement. The competition seems straightforward too. Athletes lift the barbell one at a time and the weight on the bar can only be increased, never decreased, but the coaches behind the scenes are playing chess as they plan their athletes’ rest periods and next attempts.

Grab

The snatch is the more technically demanding of the two lifts. Lifters must lift the barbell from the floor over their head in one fluid motion. They are not allowed to bend and straighten their elbows once the weight is over them – a controversial rule that many fans believe deprives athletes of good lifts.

American weightlifter Jourdan Delacruz finished fifth in the women’s 49 kg competition after failing to place in 2020.

Tearing and pushing

As the name suggests, the Clean & Jerk are two separate movements that are counted as one combined exercise. The clean portion of the exercise involves the athlete “cleaning” the barbell to the front rack position, or resting it on his collarbone and shoulders.

In the clean and jerk, the athlete lifts the weight by jumping and quickly pushes the barbell over his head. The same elbow rule applies to the clean and jerk.

Three judges, two on the side and one in front, signal a white light for a good lift and a red light for no lift. Athletes need at least two white lights for the lift to count, but there is a jury that reviews the results and makes the final decision.