Caden Cahoy Pushes the Envelope at European Championships

SOFIA, Bulgaria - Team USA celebrated another career day at the European Championships Thursday night when Caden Cahoy (Jacksonville, Florida) set major personal records during the 73 kg A session. Cahoy went 4-for-6 with PRs in the snatch (144 kg) and clean & jerk (185 kg) for a total of 329 kg, a nine kilogram improvement on his previous lifetime best. The 329 unofficially moved the 20 year old up to 15th in the Olympic qualifying rankings heading into the final Paris 2024 Olympic qualifying event - the IWF World Cup in Phuket, Thailand.

“I’m pretty happy about my performance today,” Cahoy said. “I would’ve liked to hit my third attempt in each lift but we moved up the OQR so I’m definitely excited about that.”

“Coming into this meet I felt decent,” he added. “I knew I would have to put some numbers on the bar that I have never even touched before, but I was ready for that and we’re definitely excited for Thailand.”

“Caden was amazing today with his personal records across the board,” said Mike Gattone, Senior Director of Sport Performance for USA Weightlifting. “He moved into the top-15 in the OQR today and that was a number we were watching. We took his last clean & jerk attempt to try and become the number one Pan American athlete and he was so close to cleaning it. The jumps we did today might seem crazy and unconventional but that’s what it’s about right now.”

Cahoy shared the day with teammate Ryan Grimsland (Lewisville, N.C.). Grimsland made just his opening snatch and clean & jerk at 142 kg and 182 kg, respectively, for a 324 kg total. Grimsland ranked 16th on the OQR coming into the day with a 327 kg total and 340 kg lifetime best. He too is slated to compete in Thailand at the World Cup.

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