(Photo by Harry How/Getty Images for USOC)
(Above, an interview from last year’s world championships with Olympian Kendrick Farris.)
Kendrick Farris is going to London. Farris has been featured many times here on DailyHouse and his training videos and faith have motivated thousands of people around the country. This week it was announced after the final Olympic selection competition for the US, that Farris will be carrying the entire weight of the US men’s weightlifting team on his shoulders.
The announcement that Farris would be nominated to the Olympic team came on May 21st, after the US secured one men’s spot in London by placing fourth at the 2012 Pan American championships. Following Olympic selection procedures, Farris is the top ranked US man and would receive the nomination to compete in London.
There had been some questions about whether the US would be able to earn a men’s berth to this year’s Games, but Farris never stopped fighting for his spot. Farris said after making the team:
Honestly I feel the same way I felt last week: humble, hungry, and focused on the task at hand. Making an Olympic Team is an incredible achievement but I’ve already done it before so my objective this time around is totally different than it was in 2008.
The 25-year-old from Shreveport, Louisiana set the US record at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, hoisting a total 362kg (796.4lbs) combined in the snatch and clean & jerk lifts. The current world record for 85kg is a combined 394kg (866.8lbs) set by Belarusian Andrei Rybakou.
Farris will be joining Sarah Robles and Holley Mangold in London to represent the stars and stripes – bless the gym, indeed.
Congrats and good luck to the US Olympic weightlifting team!
To follow Kendrick Farris as he prepares for the 2012 Olympics in London check out his website, KendrickJFarris.com, or follow him on twitter: @KendrickJFarris.
