USA wins first weightlifting gold in 25 years

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PARIS—Ever since Team USA won its last Olympic weightlifting gold at the 2000 Sydney Games, a generation of Americans has tried and failed to outdo rivals in hoisting dangerously heavy pieces of metal above their heads.

After nearly a quarter of a century, the gold-medal drought finally ended Friday at the chalked hands of a 21-year-old Tennessean. Entering the 157-pound weight division as the unambiguous favorite, Olivia Reeves proceeded to lift an Olympic-record 258 pounds in the snatch en route to her milestone victory.

In a sport teeming with inspirational quotes about no gain without pain, what’s unusual about Reeves is how she got here. Instead of grinding away in the gym for countless hours, she soared to the peak of international weightlifting by doing the opposite.

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She trains half as much as other world-class lifters.

Put another way, her secret to lifting weights is not lifting weights.

For example, the top three finishers in Wednesday’s men’s 134-pound competition, including American bronze medalist Hampton Morris, said they lift at least six times a week, for no less than 15 hours per week. The American champ in 2000, Tara Nott-Cunningham, had seven or eight weekly sessions, each 90 minutes to two hours long, said Team USA coach Mike Gattone.

But Reeves lifts just four times a week. Three sessions are two hours long. The fourth is 90 minutes. The total: just 7.5 hours a week.

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