“Exactly What We Need”: USA Weightlifting’s National Team Program Makes Big Promises for American Athletes
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American weightlifting has momentum. After the best performance in its modern history at the 2024 Olympics, Team USA is poised to perform even better over the coming years.
- On Nov. 8, 2024, USA Weightlifting (USAW) announced the upcoming rollout of its National Team Program (NTP).
The NTP, designed by USAW’s Senior Director Sport Performance Mike Gattone, is meant to be the, “the next step in USAW’s commitment to develop and support the best weightlifters in the world.”
BarBend spoke with a few of Team USA’s cornerstone members to take their temperature on the next phase of American weightlifting.
USA Weightlifting National Team Program, Explained
American weightlifting has historically struggled to excel on the world stage. The wind has changed in recent years, with medal-winners at both Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020, and culminating in Team USA bagging two historic Olympic medals in 2024:
- Hampton Morris (61KG) won bronze, the first men’s Olympic medal in weightlifting since 1984.
- Olivia Reeves (71KG) became Olympic Champion, winning the States’ first gold in women’s weightlifting since female athletes were allowed to compete in the Olympics in 2000.
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NTP organizers within USAW hope to build on this momentum as the organization turns its gaze toward the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles. The primary objective of the NTP is twofold:
- Support the most competitive athletes at the senior international level.
- Develop a strong pipeline of promising athletes for the future.
You can read the NTP policy document in full here.
USAW has reached agreements with the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee (USOPC) to provide additional financial support to NTP members in the amount of $1,000 per month, atop what USAW provides its athletes directly. In 2025, USOPC bonus funding is available to athletes who:
- Morris and Reeves, Team USA’s medalists from the 2024 Olympics.
- The top two men and women, calculated by USAW as part of what they call their Gold Level.
Gold Level members of the NTP are afforded a number of other benefits, including a $3,500 monthly stipend, consultations with a NTP coach, plus access to psychological and nutritional support services as well.
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Perspectives From the Athletes
BarBend spoke with two prominent members of USAW’s international squad to find out how the athletes themselves view the promises made by the NTP.
Here’s Meredith Alwine, who has competed for Team USA internationally since 2017. Alwine is also the Women’s 71-kilogram World Champion from 2021:
- “A program like the NTP is what USAW has needed for a while. It’s a concise, cohesive system with more widespread benefits. As an athlete who has been on and off of the stipend, I know the stress and frustration of going back and forth on receiving support. The NTP seems like it will minimize that inconsistency.”
Here’s Caine Wilkes, Team USA veteran, Tokyo 2020 Olympian, and three-time Pan American Champion:
- “Since I’ve been in the sport awhile, I’ve seen a lot of iterations of stipend and support programs. I think the NTP seems to balance offering resources to as many top and developing athletes as possible, while also prioritizing the top of the top athletes. With limited spots for the Gold and Silver levels, it also adds incentives for athletes to pursue and achieve; that was a source of motivation I’ve used myself during my elite lifting career.”
And here’s Morris:
- “The NTP is the clearest communication I have ever seen from USAW. The funding security allows us to grow into a new weight class or to prepare properly so we can focus on winning medals for Team USA.”
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Featured Image: USA Weightlifting
The post “Exactly What We Need”: USA Weightlifting’s National Team Program Makes Big Promises for American Athletes appeared first on BarBend.
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