Team USA is off to a strong start with two of our 48kg women winning medals on the first day of competition at the 2017 IWF Senior Pan Ams!  

Alyssa Ritchey (48, USA) won silver in the snatch with her 77kg/169lb lift and bronze overall after a solid performance.

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Kathleen Winters (48, USA) finished right behind Ritchey, winning bronze with her 76kg/167kg snatch and ending up in fourth overall. Winters had an incredibly tough journey to Pan Ams with an 18 hour flight delay, a flight cancellation, and all the stress caused by being stranded in an airport for an extended period of time.

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Her mental toughness clearly was tested throughout the process, but she still showed up and performed, finishing with 5/6 successful lifts and a bronze medal in the snatch. Luckily for her, she's got some legendary weightlifting help in the form of Pyrros Dimas to wick sweat off of her while she was trying to make weight:

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Congrats to Ritchey and Winters, and good luck to the rest of Team USA!