Wesley Brian Kitts (also known as Wes Kitts) (born 22 May 1990) is an American

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 ...

, two time Pan American Champion and Pan American Games Champion competing in the 105 kg category until 2018 and 109 kg starting in 2018 after the

International Weightlifting Federation The International Weightlifting Federation (IWF), headquartered in Lausanne, is the international governing body for the sport of Olympic weightlifting. The IWF was founded in 1905, and has 192 Member Federations. The IWF President is Mohammed H ...

reorganized the categories.

Career

In 2018 he competed at the 2018 World Weightlifting Championships in the 109 kg division finishing 10th overall. In 2019 he competed at the 2019 Pan American Weightlifting Championships in the 109 kg division winning a silver medal in the snatch and gold medals in the clean & jerk, his total of 399 kg was 17 kg more than the silver medalist, and a new Pan American record. On July 30 he competed in the 109 kg division at the

Pan American Games The Pan American Games (also known colloquially as the Pan Am Games) is a continental multi-sport event in the Americas featuring summer sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The competition is held ...

. After the snatch portion he was in fourth place, a total of 18 kg behind Jorge Arroyo, he was able to complete his third lift of 217 kg in the clean & jerk to win the gold medal by 1 kg. He represented the United States at the

2020 Summer Olympics The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the host city during the ...

in Tokyo, Japan. He won the gold medal in his event at the 2023 Pan American Weightlifting Championships held in Bariloche, Argentina.

Major results

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kitts, Wesley 1990 births Living people Place of birth missing (living people) American male weightlifters Pan American Games gold medalists for the United States in weightlifting Weightlifters at the 2019 Pan American Games Medalists at the 2019 Pan American Games Olympic weightlifters for the United States Sportspeople from Knoxville, Tennessee Weightlifters at the 2020 Summer Olympics 21st-century American sportsmen