The weightlifting medals are stuffed inside a size 9 shoe box beneath Olivia Reeves’ bed. Sticky notes are applied to the box top to remind her where each one came from. The latest ones placed there, and almost certainly the most impressive, are identified as “International Federation Junior World Championships.”
That’s right. Reeves, who just graduated from Notre Dame High School, won two golds – including the overall gold in her 71-kilogram (156-pound) weight class – and a silver on May 27 in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, which also makes her one of the favorites to represent the United States at the 2024 Olympics in Paris.
“That’s the goal,” she said Saturday morning at Tennessee Speed and Strength, where she trains three times a week with her longtime coach Steve Fauer.
How badly does she want to reach that goal?
“Pretty badly,” said the 18-year-old, who will attend the University of Alabama at Birmingham this fall with an intent to major in food science.