PARIS, France — 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.
That paved the way to gold for Li, who set the top Olympic snatch and overall marks in this category three years ago when winning in Tokyo. Already with a big lead, Li lifted 167 kilograms (368 pounds) in the clean and jerk to seal it with a score of 310, while Theerapong Silachai of Thailand got the silver for medal at 303.
Li became the first weightlifter with back-to-back Olympic titles since Naim Suleymanoglu of Turkey won three in a row from 1988-96.
“It was a smooth competition,” Li said through an interpreter. “I followed the instructions from my team, and I smoothly won the gold medal.”
Morris, who is coached by his father, Tripp, got emotional with the bronze medal hanging around his neck when he began talking about what his mother, Anne Marie, and his sister, Etta, give up so he can lift at such a high level. His grandmother drives him to physical therapy every week.
“I don’t have anywhere else to go, so I never had any real need to get my driver’s license,” Morris said. “I’m planning to get it very soon. I’ve pretty much learned how to drive. I just haven’t taken the test yet.”
That is a short-term goal. Doing better in Los Angeles in 2028 — probably moving up a weight class next time — is for down the line.
Until now, his priority was getting on the podium in Paris, something that was threatened when he slipped on his first clean and jerk. USA Gymnastics senior director of sport performance Mike Gattone, standing nearby, said, "That’s the third guy I’ve seen slip on that platform.”
Morris moved the bar forward for his second attempt and was successful on the 172 kilogram (379 pound) lift that put him in medal position at 298. Locked into a medal, he went for a clean and jerk world record attempt of 178 kilograms (392 pounds) and came up just short of completing it.
“I knew I had it in me,” Morris said. “Any other day, I would definitely have a shot at making it. Today I had a shot of making it.”
Four-time Olympic medalist Eko Yuli Irawan of Indonesia, the oldest weightlifter in the category at age 35, injured his right hip or leg on his unsuccessful final lift. He limped off with assistance after failing to make a lift in the clean and jerk, preventing him from extending his lead as his country's most decorated Olympian.
The 61kg (134.48 pound) class is one of just five at the Paris Games after a reclassification and reduction from seven divisions in Tokyo. The start of the first event was delayed more than 20 minutes because of unspecified technical maintenance. A spokesperson for the International Weightlifting Federation said the time screens behind the platform were not working.
American Jourdan Delacruz competes in the women’s 49-kilogram division later Wednesday. Tokyo Olympic gold medalist Hou Zhihui of China is considered the weightlifter to beat.
China also has top contenders Luo Shifang in the women's 59kg and Shi Zhiyong in men's 73kg on Thursday and Li Wenwen in the women's +81kg on Sunday, when weightlifting wraps up.