Shane Hamman (born June 20, 1972) is an American

Olympic Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece b ...

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 ...

and

powerlifter Powerlifting is a strength sport that consists of three attempts at maximal weight on three lifts: squat, bench press, and deadlift. As in the sport of Olympic weightlifting, it involves the athlete attempting a maximal weight single-lift effor ...

Early years

Shane Hamman was born in

Oklahoma City, Oklahoma Oklahoma City (), officially the City of Oklahoma City, and often shortened to OKC, is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat of Oklahoma County, it ranks 20th among United States cities in population, and ...

, and brought up in

Mustang, Oklahoma Mustang is a city in the southeastern corner of Canadian County, Oklahoma, United States. It is part of the Oklahoma City metropolitan statistical area. Mustang's population was 19,879 at the 2020 census, a 14.3% increase from 17,398 in 2010. The c ...

. Hamman began to play

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

at the age of 6 until he was 12 years old. In his freshman year of high school, Hamman began

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

and was a standout for two years on the freshman and varsity squads. He also wrestled his junior year. Hamman grew strong lifting large pallets of produce for his father's fruit market. During high school, he had broken several teenage records. He trained as a

after high school, but after seeing the

1996 Summer Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

, he decided to switch his career to Olympic-style weightlifting.

Olympic weightlifting/Powerlifting

Shane began his career as a

, competing for the

International Powerlifting Federation The International Powerlifting Federation is an international governing body for the sport of powerlifting as recognized by the General Association of International Sports Federations (GAISF). The IPF was founded in 1972, and comprises member fe ...

. He competed in the IPF World Championships in 1994 & 1995, finished third and second respectively. His greatest equipped squat was 457.5 kg at the USPF National Championships on March 9, 1996, which stood as the world record until Andrey Konovalov squatted 460 kg on November 4, 2012. Hamman is sometimes called the strongest man in

America The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. He won all 9 American Senior National Championship that he competed in (1997-2005). He holds every American weightlifting record in his class. He competed in the

2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 (Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from 1 ...

and finished 10th. In the qualifying for the Olympics, during the 2003 World Championships, on his final lift he single-handedly secured three spots for athletes from the U.S. in the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...

. In the Olympics, he finished 7th in his weight category, setting a new American record with his total of 430 kg and his

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 ...

of 237.5 kg. Aside from his weightlifting prowess, Hamman also plays

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

and

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping wi ...

. Despite his frame, he can hit a golf ball , do a standing back flip, and leap vertically three feet (0.9 m). Hamman has retired from

Olympic weightlifting 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 ...

, and sometimes appears as an announcer in events like the Olympics in 2008 and 2016 for

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...

. Hamman is now focusing on helping others. He gives speeches at various high schools about his career and what it took to get Olympian status. Hamman also visits high schools to promote "

Rachel's Challenge Rachel's Challenge is an organization in the United States that works to reduce violence. It is a non-religious, non-profit, non-political organization, led by Darrell Scott and his wife Sandy. Rachel Scott was the first student to be killed in th ...

", a program for which he is a spokesperson.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hamman, Shane 1972 births Living people Sportspeople from Oklahoma City American male weightlifters Olympic weightlifters of the United States American powerlifters Weightlifters at the 2000 Summer Olympics Weightlifters at the 2004 Summer Olympics Weightlifters at the 1999 Pan American Games People from Mustang, Oklahoma Pan American Games gold medalists for the United States Pan American Games medalists in weightlifting Medalists at the 1999 Pan American Games 20th-century American people 21st-century American people