You could feel the excitement, and at some points the tension, during Day 3 of the USA Weightlifting Elite Athlete Training Camp at No Excuses CrossFit. 

After taking the last two days easy, the weightlifters had some big lifts on Friday. 

“Great day today. We had a lot of big lifts,” said Mike Gattone, the Senior Director of Sports Performance and Coaching Education for USA Weightlifting. “Harrison (Maurus) made a 190-kilo (418 pounds) double, CJ (Cummings) made a PR power clean this morning, and Meredith Alwine made a PR. Lots of good lifts today. Caine (Wilkes) went his heaviest since the World Championships, so it was great.”

The team used the morning session to work on various parts of their lifts and had more media in attendance with 11Alive, an NBC affiliate, doing interviews after the session. 

Then in the afternoon you had a lively session with the team together for the first time and Power and Grace Performance lifting alongside them. There were times the room was frozen to watch the big lifts. 

“Remember when I was telling how when these guys are together they tend to play off each other,” Gattone said. “Today was the first day you felt it. A lot of people wanted to go heavy. Your peers are here from Team USA. I thought the vibe was amazing.”

Gattone is expecting a similar feeling on Saturday during the final day of the training camp, which begins at 10 am. 

“A couple of people left to go heavy,” Gattone said. “I think Kate (Nye), Sarah (Robles), Meredith (Alwine). You’ll see some good stuff tomorrow, too.”