Mérida, Yucatán, México -- On October 22nd, 2022 Brie Gomez debuted for TEAM USA at the second edition of the FISU America Games, a multiport event featuring the top collegiate athletes from across the Pan American region!
Competing at the FISU Games, Brie became the first University of Texas Weightlifting team member to compete internationally for TEAM USA, and the first current student to do so since Ursula Garza Papandrea in the early 1990s. Brie earned her spot on the team at the 2022 University National Championships in March, where her 6 for 6 PR performance of 84/101/185 slotted her 6th on the 10 person women's team headed to Mexico to represent the USA internationally.
Two years prior, in February 2020 (just a few weeks prior to the lockdowns), Brie earned silver at the Junior National Championships with a 69kg snatch and a 86kg clean & jerk for a 155kg total. That performance earned her an invitation to a Virtual Selection Camp for a chance to make the 2020 Junior Pan American Championships. Brie's disappointing performance at that Selection Camp left her with a hungry determination to not only work harder for her next opportunity to compete internationally, but to also build confidence in a competitive setting. Over the course of 2021 and early 2022, Brie chipped away kilo by kilo. Progress in competition didn't always match the progress she had made in the gym, but it drove her to work harder. Over time, she built up the confidence to not only go for big lifts on the big stage, but also the ability to make them.
On October 22nd, Brie put together a lifetime performance that earned her a bronze medal in the women's 64kg class. She went 3 for 3 in the snatch, hitting 83kg, 87kg and then 90kg for an all-time snatch PR. Following up her snatch performance, Brie went 2 for 3 in the clean & jerk, hitting a 102kg competition PR on her second attempt and went for a huge PR 105kg on her third attempt. Brie's total on the day of 192kg was a 7kg increase from the 2022 University Nationals, and she went from being ranked sixth on the USA Women's team at the start to finishing ranked second! Gomez's next competition will be at 2023 University National Championships, where she'll compete with the rest of the national team in Columbus, OH at The Arnold Sports Festival from March 2nd to 5th.