Olympian Delacruz Lands in Tokyo to Begin USA's Run for Glory at Olympic Games

Team USA Weightlifting Olympian Jourdan Delacruz (49kg) trains at the Tokyo International Forum in Tokyo, Japan July 19, 2021. (Credit: USA Weightlifting) Jourdan Delacruz Lands in Tokyo to Begin USA Weightlifting’s Run for Glory at Olympic Games TOKYO, Japan (July 19, 2021) -- “It’s super surreal. I keep catching myself saying, ‘Wow, this is the Olympics, this is what you’ve been working towards.’ I am trying to soak it in and be present,” Jourdan Delacruz said after finishing her first training session at the vast Tokyo International Forum, site of the weightlifting competition at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020. Delacruz, 23, is Team USA Weightlifting’s first Olympian to arrive in Tokyo ahead of Friday’s Opening Ceremony. The Wylie, Texas, native will lift in the Women’s 49kg bodyweight competition set for Saturday, July 24, at 1:50 p.m. in Tokyo (12:50 a.m. Eastern Daylight time). “It’s a little chaotic, but I am super excited to be here and I’m ready to compete,” Delacruz told USA Weightlifting. Delacruz arrived in Tokyo Sunday evening after attending USA Weightlifting’s Tokyo Strong training camp in Hawaii. “I hope to recover and start feeling normal after all of the travel,” Delacruz said. The camp, designed to help transition athletes to the vast time difference between the United States and Japan, continues in Honolulu with Team USA’s seven remaining Olympians set to travel to the Olympic city over the next two weeks. “I think for this first week, one of the biggest things, coming from Hawaii, is getting our logistics in place,” said Mike Gattone, Team USA head coach and USA Weightlifting’s Senior Director of Sport Performance and Coaching Education. “Figuring out sports medicine, transportation, COVID-19 testing. It will be helpful to get that stuff worked out.” For Delacruz, while her friends, family and fans are a half a world away, their presence will still be felt, despite COVID-19 protocols forbidding any fans in attendance. “Y’all’s support literally means the world to me. The fact that I know that you will be cheering me on just means so much to me,” Delacruz said. “I love you all so much.”