South Georgia Barbell athletes bring home 3 gold and 6 silver medals from Arnold Sports Festival

Jessi Flowers, The Moultrie Observer, Ga.
·3 min read

Mar. 14—COLUMBUS, Ohio — Asher Fountain, from Moultrie's South Georgia Barbell, swept the boys U13 division in weightlifting with three gold medals at the 2023 Arnold Sports Festival, hosted by the Greater Columbus Convention Center in early March.

Also competing in the festival from South Georgia Barbell were Neil Fountain, Gunner Griffin, Emma Meads, Elizah Demott, Deb Woods and Deborah Fountain.

This year's event saw about 12,000 athletes and roughly 100,000 spectators.

The festival was founded by Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jim Lorimer in 1989. Originally it focused on bodybuilding, but today the festival hosts five different categories and over 80 events.

Athletes around the globe compete in bodybuilding, strength sports, strongman, fitness and combat sports.

Weightlifting is a strength sport.

"You can't just sign up to compete," said South Georgia Barbell owner Matt Cannon. "You have to get a qualifying total in a USA Weightlifting sanctioned event, but you also have to sign up on that first day of registration because it fills up quickly."

In all divisions, athletes got three attempts in both the snatch and the clean and jerk, with only their heaviest weight counting.

Medals were given for the top weight on the two individual lifts but also for the combined total, giving athletes the potential to place three times.

Asher Fountain and Neil Fountain both placed in the boys U13 division.

Asher Fountain's snatch of 53 kilograms (117 pounds), clean and jerk of 63 kilograms (139 pounds) and total of 116kg (256 pounds) gave him his three gold medals.

Coming in second with three silver medals was Neil Fountain, whose total was 68 kilograms (150 pounds) with a snatch of 28 kilograms (62 pounds) and a clean and jerk of 40 kilograms (88 pounds).

Though he didn't place, Griffin got a personal best in the clean and jerk at 85 kilograms (187 pounds) in the boys U15 division.

Also winning three silver medals was Meads, who participated in the girls U15 division.

Her snatch was 63 kilograms (139 pounds) and her clean and jerk was 73 kilograms (161 pounds), giving her a total of 136 kilograms (300 pounds).

In addition to bringing home medals, this festival also gave Meads the total she needed to be placed in 12th position for the USA Team.

"They only take the top 10," said Cannon. "But it's not uncommon for people to drop out. If two girls do, then she is on the team."

The next big competition for these young weightlifters is the Youth Nationals toward the end of June.

Competing in 35-40 women's master class was Demott. Her best snatch was 60 kilograms (132 lbs) with a clean and jerk of 65 kilograms (143 lbs) for a total of 125 kilograms (275.5 lbs).

At the 40-45 women's master class were both Deborah Fountain and Woods, who happened to pull the same weight in both lifts.

With a total of 118 kilograms (260 pounds), they both had a snatch of 55 kilograms (121 pounds) and a clean and jerk of 63 kilograms (139 pounds).

Demott, Woods and Deborah Fountain all qualified for the Masters Pan Ams in July, and Woods and Fountain will also be competing this weekend in the Masters Nationals in Valley Forge, Penn.

"I'm really proud of everybody," said Cannon. "They all had a job to do, and they went out there and did it."