Written by: Robert Preston Jr.
Range Robinson, 17, a junior weightlifter at Coffee High School, walked toward the platform. He was in Durres, Albania, some 5,383 miles from his home in Douglas. Range was representing the United States at the 2023 International Weightlifting Federation World Championships in March.
A three-time national Olympic weightlifting champion, Range was one of the 10 best lifters in the country in his division. He learned in December that he had earned a spot on Team USA. That seemed like a lifetime ago.
Now he was in Albania, and it was time to lift. No matter how far he was from home, no matter how many strangers surrounded him, he was in familiar territory. It didn’t matter if the platform was in Durres, Albania; Anaheim, California; Lake City, Florida; Columbus, Ohio; Savannah, Georgia; his gym on the campus of Coffee High School; or any of the other cities in which he has lifted. He knew right where he was. The weightlifting platform, regardless of where that platform was located, was his refuge, his shelter, his home.
Before Range walked around the curtain and onto the platform, he gave a double fist bump to his coach, Mike Booth, Coffee High’s strength and conditioning coach and the Olympic weightlifting team’s head coach. Range turned confidently, adjusted his singlet, and stepped in front of the crowd. He paused to rub chalk on his hands before approaching the bar.
Range stretched his shoulders as he walked, then stood over the bar. It was loaded with 110 kilograms — about 242 pounds if you’re not familiar with the metric system. He squatted down, found his grip, and looked at the floor. Then he cut his eyes upward, took a breath, and in one furious motion, propelled the bar overhead. His face strained under the tension, but his arms, once fully locked, never wavered.
All three judges nodded their approval. Range’s lift, his second of the day, was good. He was proving that he wasn’t just one of the best weightlifters in the country — he could compete with the best in the world.
Range eventually totaled 253 kilograms in the competition — a little over 556 pounds — good for 15th place. His placing, while certainly an accomplishment, may have been secondary to the experience of competing on an international stage.
“It was such a welcoming atmosphere,” Range recalls. “Everyone was so friendly. Most everyone spoke English, so we could easily communicate with each other. I had heard things about some of the countries that were there, and they had heard things about America. I used it as an opportunity to show some goodwill for the United States. We were all friendly. There was no animosity at all.”
While he may have learned that he was headed to Albania in December, the road to Durres began when he was in the sixth grade. His older brother, Rhett, had joined the Olympic weightlifting team at Coffee High, and Range followed suit as soon as he was old enough (one of the few school-sponsored Olympic teams in the state — weightlifting isn’t recognized by the GHSA but hopefully that will change soon — the program was open to sixth graders at the time).
Range comes from an athletic family. At his house, everyone was participating in some sport year-round: softball, swimming, football, track, or weightlifting. He tried several different sports and performed well at each one, but weightlifting is where he has excelled.
Range qualified for the USA Weightlifting youth national championships as a sixth-grader, finishing fifth. Then he won three consecutive national championships, positioning himself as one of the top lifters in the country.
And it didn’t happen by accident.
“His determination and willpower are unmatched,” says his mother, April Dockery. “Even during COVID, he got up at 6 a.m. and worked out. He’s very driven. He studies his butt off, he watches his diet, and he works constantly. He’s always working.”
Coach Booth picked up on Range’s talent pretty quickly, but he was careful not to heap too much praise on him too early.
“I knew he could be a good lifter, but I’m cautious about telling kids what they can do or what they can be,” says Booth. “Range wanted to get better, but he also wanted to be a technician. He was scrawny back then, but he had great technique. He’s stuck with it, and he’s stayed healthy.”
In the world of Olympic lifting, the word “technician” is key. It takes strength, no doubt about it. But it takes much more. The two lifts involved in Olympic lifting — the snatch and the clean and jerk — are fast, violent, and explosive. They are athletic exercises, and strength without technique won’t get a lifter very far.
But don’t think for a minute that Range Robinson isn’t strong. He is. Brutally strong.
“When he’s in the weight room, he wants to be the alpha male,” says Booth. “He wants to be the strongest. He wants the most weight on the bar.”
Booth has seen a difference in Range since the trip to Albania. While he was there, Range saw firsthand what the best lifters in the world do. They are specialists with a singular focus. They don’t play football or basketball or any other sport. Those athletes only lift. And they’re very, very good.
“Range’s work ethic has improved even more since he’s gotten back,” Booth says. “We’re in the middle of spring football right now, and he’s in the gym. He stays after practice. He wants to lift on the weekends. He wants to be in the gym every moment that he can.”
Range may not have podiumed in Albania, but one of his teammates won a world championship at the competition. Ella Nicholson of Medina, Ohio, won gold in the 16-to-17-year-old, 76-kilogram class. Her Team USA teammates joined her on the podium after the medal ceremony.
“It was a special moment for everyone,” Range says. “We were standing there with her. She had the American flag wrapped around her, and they were playing our national anthem. It’s something you can’t describe.”
It’s a feeling he may have the opportunity to experience again. Range has two more major competitions on his calendar this year. The first is USA Weightlifting’s youth nationals, which takes place in late June and early July in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Range hopes to add a fourth national championship medal to his trophy case at that meet.
Range has also qualified for the Pan-American Youth Championships in August. This competition, held August 12-17 in Caracas, Venezuela, presents two challenges. The first is that it coincides with football season, and the second is the increasing political instability of Venezuela. There is talk of moving the competition or of several of the Pan-Am nations getting together and hosting their own games at an as yet undetermined location.
Then, of course, there is college. Rhett is playing football at the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy in Kings Point, New York; just as Range followed Rhett into weightlifting, so would he like to follow Rhett into college athletics. Weightlifting is an option, though most of the schools that offer weightlifting as a sport aren’t located near South Georgia (but then again, neither is Kings Point, New York). At the moment, Range still isn’t sure.
“I’ve had some contact with a school, but right now I’m still weighing my options,” he says.
His mother isn’t in any hurry for him to make a decision.
“Rhett’s offer didn’t come through until about three months before graduation,” she says. “(Range) has some time. Right now, we’re just enjoying the ride. We’ll see where it takes him.”
Click below to read more stories from the ITG Next South Georgia June/July 2023 magazine.
