Damon Joseph Kelly (born 1 December 1983 in

Atherton, Queensland Atherton is a rural town and locality in the Tablelands Region, Queensland, Australia. In the , Atherton had a population of 7,331 people. Geography Atherton is on the Atherton Tableland in Far North Queensland. Atherton is joined by the Gil ...

) is an Australian

weightlifter Olympic weightlifting, or Olympic-style weightlifting (officially named Weightlifting), is a sport in which athletes compete in lifting a barbell loaded with weight plates from the ground to overhead, with each athlete trying to successfully lift ...

who competed at the

2008 Olympic Games The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Na ...

finishing ninth. Olympic Profile - Damon Kelly, Weightlifting Damon recorded lifts of 165 kg in the Snatch and 221 kg in the Clean and Jerk with a total of 386 kg. He was the biggest member of the Australian Olympic Team and was Australia's only male weightlifter at the Games, having secured the sole position with a personal best lift on his final attempt at the Olympic Nomination Trials. He competed for Australia again at the 2012 Summer Olympics, finishing 16th with a total of 381 kg (216 in the clean and jerk, and 165 in the snatch). Kelly won a silver medal at the

2006 Commonwealth Games The 2006 Commonwealth Games, officially the XVIII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Melbourne 2006 (Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm 2006'' or ''Naarm 2006''), was an international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth held ...

in the 105 kg+ division and Gold at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi and holds the Commonwealth Games record for the

Clean and Jerk The clean and jerk is a composite of two weightlifting movements, most often performed with a barbell: the clean and the jerk. During the ''clean'', the lifter moves the barbell from the floor to a racked position across the deltoids, without res ...

. He has been undefeated at the Australian Championships since 2006 and is also the reigning

Oceania Oceania (, , ) is a region, geographical region that includes Australasia, Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. Spanning the Eastern Hemisphere, Eastern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres, Oceania is estimated to have a land area of ...

champion. At the 2014 Commonwealth Games, he finished third, 12 kg behind the winner. He started weightlifting as a 14-year-old at

St Laurence's College , motto_translation = To do and to teach , type = Independent primary and secondary school , religion = Catholicism , denomination = Congregation of Christian Brothers , streetaddress ...

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...

where he also excelled at

Rugby Union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

, playing in the First XV alongside

Australian national rugby league team The Australian National Rugby League Team, the Kangaroos, have represented Australia in senior men's rugby league football competition since the establishment of the 'Northern Union game' in Australia in 1908. Administered by the Australian ...

halfback

Cooper Cronk Cooper Patrick Cronk (born 5 December 1983) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 2000s and 2010s. An n international and Queensland State of Origin representative , he played most of his club career for ...

, and

Shot Put The shot put is a track and field event involving "putting" (throwing) a heavy spherical ball—the ''shot''—as far as possible. The shot put competition for men has been a part of the modern Olympics since their revival in 1896, and women's ...

, setting the college record. He trains at Cougars Weightlifting Club in

under coach Miles Wydall.

Personal bests

References

External links

* * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kelly, Damon 1983 births Living people Australian male weightlifters Olympic weightlifters for Australia Weightlifters at the 2008 Summer Olympics Weightlifters at the 2012 Summer Olympics Commonwealth Games bronze medallists for Australia Commonwealth Games gold medallists for Australia Commonwealth Games silver medallists for Australia Commonwealth Games medallists in weightlifting Weightlifters at the 2006 Commonwealth Games Weightlifters at the 2010 Commonwealth Games Weightlifters at the 2014 Commonwealth Games Weightlifters at the 2018 Commonwealth Games Medallists at the 2006 Commonwealth Games Medallists at the 2010 Commonwealth Games Medallists at the 2014 Commonwealth Games People from Atherton, Queensland Sportsmen from Queensland 20th-century Australian people 21st-century Australian people People educated at St Laurence's College