ST. JOSEPH, MISSOURI - Cheryl Haworth and Tara Cunningham will again represent the United States in Olympic women's weightlifting. The challenge now is to do in Athens what they did in Sydney.<br>
<br>
Namely, win medals.<br>
<br>
Haworth, the super heavyweight who took home a bronze medal from Sydney at age 17, and Cunningham, a returning gold medalist at 105.5 pounds, easily secured their spots for the Athens Games during Saturday's U.S. Olympic trials.<br>
<br>
Haworth put up 270 pounds in the snatch and 330.7 pounds in the clean and jerk for a total of 600.7 pounds more than the 573 she lifted at the 2000 trials. She might have been tempted to do more, but she already had first place wrapped up.<br>
<br>
Each lifter's U.S. team ranking was based on a percentage comparing the total amount each lifted to the world-qualifying standard in her weight class in a series of competitions, not just the trials. Haworth and Cunningham were easily ahead before increasing their totals Saturday, Haworth to 110.01 percent, Cunningham to 109.23 percent.<br>
<br>
No one else was within seven percentage points, even though No. 3 Cara Heads, a 165-pounder from Costa Mesa, Calif., enjoyed the best meet of her career by lifting 507 pounds.<br>
<br>
``I was just trying to keep the No. 1 spot, that was my goal, but Tara was keeping me nervous,'' said Haworth, who is from Savannah, Ga. ``She was stressing me out. Now, I've got a tremendous amount of work ahead. I definitely have a long way to go for Athens.''<br>
<br>
Haworth is probably glad she didn't need to challenge her own American records of 281 pounds in the snatch, 352.5 pounds in the clean and jerk and 628 pounds total. She tore two left-elbow ligaments last June, sidelining her for 10 months, and still has occasional bouts of pain in the elbow.<br>
<br>
``I just have to be careful and not do anything crazy,'' she said.<br>
<br>
Unlike four years ago, when four U.S. women weightlifters made the Olympics, only Haworth and Cunningham advanced this time. Haworth was injured and did not lift in last year's world championships in Vancouver, costing the United States valuable points in the team standings that determined each country's qualifiers for 2004 Olympics.
