Born and raised in Beaufort, SC by his parents Clarence and Savasah Cummings, CJ Cummings is a 19 year old weightlighting phenomenon. After spending time in the gym watching his older sister Crystal lift, it was only a matter of time before CJ and his brother Omar got involved in the sport.

 

A few highlights of CJ's accomplishments include:

 

• At age 11, CJ became the youngest lifter to complete a clean & jerk of twice his body weight (200lbs).

• At age 12, he earned a silver medal at the Men's American Open. Cummings is the youngest to compete and place at this event.

• At age 13, Cummings was awarded the title of Best Overall Lifter at the 2013 Youth Pan Americans and set Pan American records in the 15 & under category. As a result of these accomplishments, USA Weighlifting declared CJ Cummings "the strongest 13 year-old in the world."

• At age 14, CJ broke the Men's 62kg American Clean and Jerk Record with his lift of 153 kg (337lbs) at the 2014 USA Weighlifting National Championships.

• At age 15

  • Won the gold medal for the 69kg weight class and the award for the best overall lifter at the 2015 Youth Pan Americans.

  • Was the youngest lifter to compete in any weight class at the 2015 World Championships

  • Placed 1st at the 2015 American Open for the 69kg weight class.

  • Won the gold medal for his weight class in the clean and jerk, snatch and total and Best Lifter at the 2016 USA Junior Nationals.

• At age 16

  • Finished 1st overall for 69kg at the Junior World Championships with a youth world record total of 317kg, which was comprised of a 137kg PR snatch and a 180kg youth world record clean & jerk. 

  • Finished 1st overall for 69kg at the 2016 Youth World Championships with a 317kg total, which was made up of a 135kg snatch and a youth world record clean and jerk of 182kg.   

  • Finished 1st overall for 69kg weight class at the American Open with a new Senior American record Clean & Jerk of 183kg, a personal best snatch of 138kg, and a new Senior American record total of 321kg. CJ was also honored as Best Male Lifter.

  • Finished 1st overall for 69kg weight class at the US Junior Nationals with a PR snatch of 139kg and a clean and jerk of 177kg. Received Best Lifter Award for this event. 

  • Finished 1st overall for 69kg weight class at the 2017 Youth World Championships, set a new Youth World Record in the Clean & Jerk at 185kg, and was honored as Best Lifter.

• At age 17

  • Placed 2nd in the 2018 Senior Pan American Championships while earning the gold medal in the clean and jerk. 

  • Won his 2nd consecutive Junior World Championship in the 69kg class.

  •  Won Best of Team USA Award for the month of June

• At age 18

  • Won his 3rd consecutive Junior World Championship​ in the 69kg class.

  • Honored as Best Lifter at the 2018 American Open Series 3 in Las Vegas

  • After moving to the 73kg weight class, finished 10th at the 2018 Senior World Championships but set two (2) 73kg Junior World Records with his personal record lifts of 148kg in the snatch and 187kg in the clean and jerk for a total of 335kg

  • At the 2019 Pan American Championships, CJ set 15 records including three (3) Junior World Records.

  • CJ won the 2019 Junior World Championship, his last competition as an 18-year old, and became the first weightlifter of any nation or gender to win 4 consecutive junior world titles

• At age 19

  • CJ had another 15-record day at the Junior Pan-American Championships where he broke his 3 Junior World Records.

• At age 21

  • CJ represented the United States at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo​

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For a complete list of CJ's records click here!

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Cummings trains at The Foundry with his coach Rayford Jones (check out his site by clicking here).

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When he is not lifting, CJ enjoys playing video games, playing on his iPhone, eating french fries, learning new languages, and hanging out with this friends. CJ is also an aspiring actor.