An Olympic dream fulfilled: NC weightlifter earns Team USA spot for Tokyo Games
A Charlotte-area weightlifter has earned a trip to Tokyo later this summer: Caine Wilkes will be announced Wednesday by USA Weightlifting as one of its eight Olympians.
“I’ve been dreaming of the Olympics for about 20 years, and for the past 10, it has started to feel possible,” Wilkes said in a phone interview. “It means so much to have finally reached this pinnacle.”
Wilkes began lifting weights 20 years ago to prepare for his middle-school football season. It turned out he was a lot better at weightlifting than football, and by the end of high school, he had completely traded the gridiron for pumping iron.
A graduate of Old Dominion, Wilkes lives in Indian Trail and trains in Charlotte at the Charlotte Strength gym. Wilkes moved to the Charlotte area from Virginia in 2015 to join a now-defunct weightlifting team, decided he liked the area and has never left. His father Chris Wilkes has coached his son in weightlifting since middle school and also lives in the Charlotte area.
An aspiring artist, Caine Wilkes likes to draw and paint and is nicknamed “The Dragon.” On his Instagram page, he proclaims to have “Some of the best hair in weightlifting.”
Wilkes has known he would almost certainly make the U.S. Olympic team since late April, when a set of fine competition results sealed his spot. How will he celebrate the official Olympic confirmation?
“I’m not sure,” Wilkes said, laughing. “Another workout? I guess I’ll just continue to work hard. There’s nothing like an Olympic spot to provide you with some motivation.”
How Caine Wilkes finally made the US Olympic team
Now 33 and married, Wilkes barely fell short of making the U.S. Olympic team in 2016. In Tokyo, Wilkes will compete for Team USA in the super-heavyweight division, reserved for weightlifters who weigh 241 or more pounds (109 or more kilograms), with no upper limit. Wilkes himself is about the size of an average NFL offensive guard — 6-foot-2 and about 320 pounds.
“Caine is a gentle giant until he competes, and then he just gets on the platform and growls at you,” said Phil Andrews, the CEO of USA Weightlifting. “He’s just a superb human being as well as an elite athlete, and I’m so happy he will be part of our Olympic team.”
USA Weightlifting picks its Olympic team — four men, four women — not through an Olympic Trials as many sports do but instead through a complicated system that awards those who have earned high world or national rankings over the past several years. Wilkes is a five-time U.S. national champion in his weight class.
Originally scheduled for the summer 2020, the Tokyo Olympics were postponed a year due to COVID-19. As long as they aren’t postponed again, the Olympics will begin July 23rd and end Aug. 8th. Wilkes’ one-day competition will come Aug. 4th.
Another weightlifter from the Carolinas will also be a big part of the USA Weightlifting contingent. Clarence “CJ” Cummings is a 20-year-old weightlifter from Beaufort, S.C., who has quickly become a star in the sport. He competes in the 73 kg (161-pound) division.
“CJ may be our best medal hope on the men’s side,” Andrews said. On the men’s side, Team USA hasn’t won an Olympic weightlifting medal in men’s competition since 1984.
Other Charlotte-area athletes
Several other Charlotte-area athletes will likely compete for Team USA, including but not limited to:
▪ Evy Leibfarth, a 17-year-old canoeist and kayaker who trains at the Whitewater Center in Charlotte, has already punched her ticket to Tokyo.
▪ Swimmer Michael Chadwick who will have a good chance to make the Olympic team at his sport’s Olympic trials in mid-June.
▪ Former Davidson College basketball star Steph Curry, who will be a shoo-in for his first U.S. Olympic team if he decides to play. Curry originally committed to the Olympics when they were going to be held in 2020, but since the postponement has not said one way or the other whether he will play in 2021. How far the Golden State Warriors advance in the NBA postseason will likely be a consideration.
