Two Round Rock teens compete in national weightlifting competition

AUSTIN (KXAN) –  Two local teenagers qualified and competed last month in the USA Weightlifting National Championships in Colorado Springs, the largest national weightlifting competition. 

Decker Fontenot, 13, and Usman Kahn, 16, both train at the Huszka Weightlifting Club in Round Rock and competed in Colorado in June. Decker has been weightlifting since he was 10. 

“I was really nervous before [the competition].  But once I hit my first lifts, you know, it just felt like another meet,” Decker said. Decker told KXAN he lifted 55 kilograms for “the snatch” and “clean and jerked” 67 kilograms – the two types of lifts athletes execute in weightlifting competitions – which were both "PRs," or personal records.

Decker placed 11th in the 14 to 15 age group, and Usman placed 8th in the 16 to 17 age group. 

Attila Huszka, Decker’s father, owns the gym where the two young athletes train. He said in the wake of CrossFit’s popularity, weightlifting has also grown. CrossFit is a high-intensity, strength-training workout that utilizes some weightlifting techniques.

“It's tremendous. It's grown a lot,” Huszka said. “It's also one of the safest sports,” he continued. 

When he first started weightlifting, Decker said his training would focus on mobility rather than lifting heavy weights. “It's really crucial that you [train mobility] so you don't get hurt,” he said. 

At his gym, Huscka teaches weightlifting to athletes as young as 10 to older than 60.

"I focus a lot on [teaching] the technical skills first,” said Huszka, who also competes in weightlifting at state and National levels in the 50 to 55 age group.

“So, it's not heavyweight at all. It's just learning the lifts but in that process, you're teaching your muscles how to move fast," he continued.