A 23-year-old from Wylie earned one of eight spots on the United States Olympic Weightlifting team.
The USA Olympic Weightlifting team was announced Wednesday. One of the eight athletes who have earned a spot on the team is Jourdan Delacruz, 23, from Wylie.
“I’m just excited to be going. Things are going to be so different in Tokyo because of the pandemic, but I’m excited to go,” Delacruz said.
It’s been a long road to get to this point.
“We do like an 18-month qualification period. Originally, you would have to do six qualification events. Two of them would have to be in your bodyweight category to be at the Olympics. It breaks down into different events,” Delacruz said.
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She said the pandemic has made the process longer and more stressful.
“The entire Olympic qualifying process itself is pretty rigorous. It’s about 18 months pre-COVID, but now that is turning into 33 months because of the pandemic. I’m just thankful to be going and making it.”
She is currently training in Atlanta, GA, ahead of the Olympics.
While she said she is ready for the Olympic Games, she knows things are going to be very different than what the team has done in the past.
“Tokyo looks entirely different. We are not staying in Tokyo for the entire duration [of the games]. USA weightlifting has a training base in Hawaii. So, we will actually be training there and then we will fly three days before competing and then fly home two days after,” she said.
The Tokyo Olympics USA Weightlifting Team is:
Jourdan Delacruz (49kg – Wylie, TX – Training in Atlanta GA)
Kate Nye (76kg – Detroit MI)
Mattie Rogers (87kg – Orlando FL)
Sarah Robles (+87kg – Desert Hot Springs CA – Training in Houston TX)
CJ Cummings (73kg – Beaufort SC)
Harrison Maurus (81kg – Auburn WA – Training in Atlanta GA)
Wes Kitts (109kg – Knoxville TN – Training in San Ramon CA)
Caine Wilkes (+109kg – Charlotte NC)
Generally, athletes would fly into the host city before the Opening Ceremony and stay through the Closing Ceremony. Portions of Japan are under a state of emergency as COVID cases continue to rise in the nation. Olympic leaders in Japan have said they continue to be committed to hosting the Games.
