Mattie Sasser

Sasser competed at the 2016 Summer Olympics in the women's 58 kg event, in which she placed eleventh.^[1][2] She was the flag bearer for the Marshall Islands at the 2016 Parade of Nations.^[3] As a dual citizen of both the Marshall Islands and the United States, she switched her sporting nationality in international competition and attempted to qualify for the United States team for the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan. She was injured during qualification, however, and required knee surgery. In 2023, she switched back to the Marshall Islands again to qualify for the 2024 games. She was coached by Casey Knuth and trained in Samoa before the games.^[4]

Sasser went on to represent the Marshall Islands at the 2024 Summer Olympics.^[5] She competed in her event on August 8, 2024, which was held in the Paris Expo Porte de Versailles. She failed to lift her first and second attempts at the snatch at 94 kilograms, then successfully lifted the same weight on her last attempt. She successfully clean and jerked 110 kilograms for her first attempt, then lifted 115 kilograms for her second, ultimately failing her last attempt at 118 kilograms. She ended with a total of 209 kilograms, placing her tenth out of twelve competitors, the highest Olympic finish by a Marshallese athlete. The winner of the event was Luo Shifang with a total of 241 kilograms.^[6] After her event, she commented her desire for more women in her country to pursue weightlifting. She also commented her concerns of the possible removal of weightlifting as an Olympic sport after the 2028 Summer Olympics.^[7]