Hampton Morris wins 1st U.S. men's weightlifting medal in 40 years - ESPN

PARIS — Hampton Morris does not have a driver's license. He does have an Olympic bronze medal.

The 20-year-old who trains in his garage at home in Marietta, Georgia, on Wednesday became the first U.S. men's weightlifter to take home a medal of any color at the Games in four decades. Narrowly missing out on a world record that would have gotten him silver, Morris followed Mario Martinez and Guy Carlton from Los Angeles in 1984 as the most recent American men to medal at the Olympics.

«It's amazing that I'm able to leave that kind of mark in the sport,» Morris said after finishing third in the men's 61-kilogram division. «I'm just in disbelief.»

Li Fabin of China defended his Olympic weightlifting title after going in as the overwhelming favorite to repeat. The 31-year-old set a Games snatch record by lifting 143 kilograms (315 pounds) on his third and final attempt, paving the way for gold when he got to 167 kilograms (368 pounds) in the clean and jerk for a score of 310.

«It was a smooth competition,» Li said through an interpreter. «I followed the instructions from my team, and I smoothly won the gold medal.»

Li became the first weightlifter with back-to-back Olympic titles since Naim Suleymanoglu of Turkey won three in a row from 1988-96. Theerapong Silachai of Thailand got the silver for medal at 303.

China defended another gold medal hours later when Hou Zhihui won the women's 49-kilogram division. Hou set an Olympic clean and jerk record at 117 kilograms on her third and final attempt to pass Mihaela Cambei of Romania by one point, 206-205.

Cambei earned silver in her country's return to the Games following its ban from Tokyo in 2021 for past doping cases, and Thailand's Surodchana Khambao was at 200 for bronze.