JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — When the strongest athletes in the world aim to join the Olympic weightlifting team, the competition is so tight that a few pounds can mean the difference between winning gold and not making the team at all.
In Florida, some Olympic hopefuls, including one who came close to making the Paris team, are striving to secure a spot for a Floridian on Team USA for the 2028 Olympics.
At Jacksonville Strength in Jacksonville, athletes are putting in the work.
Chad Cahoy owns the gym and coaches some of its strongest athletes.
“I’ve been coaching Olympic weightlifting for almost 13 years now,” Cahoy said.
Four of those athletes are Team USA weightlifters, part of the national team for competitive weightlifters that produces Olympians.
“We have the largest group of Team USA athletes training for Olympic weightlifting out of any gym in Florida that I know of,” Cahoy said.
One of those Team USA athletes is Caden Cahoy, Chad Cahoy’s son.
“Right now, I’m the number one Junior in the world,” Caden said.
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He could be Coach Cahoy’s most promising future Olympian. He recently competed in the last-chance Olympic qualifier in Thailand.
“For these international competitions for the Paris Olympics, I ended up just barely short of it," Caden said.
The competition was so close that the winner in his weight class for the clean and jerk lifted 201 kg; Caden lifted just about 5 kg less. But at 20 years old, he’s just beginning his prime.
“I can make it,” Caden said.
Not far behind him is Kailey Papas, a top 5 junior in the world for her weight class.
“We’re going to try for L.A.,” Papas said. First, her goal is making Team USA’s senior team.
"That’s really where the Olympics come from, is the senior teams,” Papas said.
They are motivating up-and-comers like 17-year-old Elle Bays.
“I’m right about to make the team," she said.
They are excelling in a sport that’s never been more competitive, especially for women.
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“The U.S. is absolutely incredible. They are very dominant in the sport, so it is super hard to make these teams,” Papas said.
But they are pushing forward with rigorous training and, they say, top-notch coaching.
“Chad is one of the best coaches in the country, honestly,” Papas said.
Chad Cahoy also mentioned that his gym is a good representation of how women are taking over the sport. He said around 90% of his athletes are women. The 2024 Paris Olympic team has three women and two men.
The last weightlifter to make the Olympic team from Florida was also a woman, Mattie Rogers, in 2020.