Her aim was simply to qualify for the Pan American Youth Championships in Venezuela in August with some personal-best lifts - and she did it in style by breaking all three 76 kilograms national and continental youth records and winning a world title. 

At the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) World Youth Championships here, Nicholson made 36kg more than her entry total in posting a six-from-six 101-121-222.

"I will stay on the weightlifting track now, for sure, because I think I just qualified for the junior worlds too," she said.

The final rankings for that competition in Mexico in November will be announced after the US junior nationals in July.

Her first competition was only two years ago, the US nationals in Detroit in 2021, the year when she came within four places of making it to the CrossFit Games.

"I was pretty good in CrossFit," Nicholson said.

"I'm motivated by all the strong women in weightlifting and CrossFit, I look up to them and want to be like them."

Tomorrow she will be watching online as her favourite weightlifter Mattie Rogers performs at the Pan American Championships in Bariloche, Argentina, where Kate Vibert and Olivia Reeves both won medals for the US today.

Nicholson's entry total of 186kg was "based on what I did at the youth nationals last year - we put that in because we didn't want to go too high or too low".

She is from a sport-loving family in Medina, Ohio. 

Her brother does wrestling and football, her mother is a CrossFitter and her father is a regular at the gym too.

There was controversy at the end of the session when last year's winner Rahma Ahmed, from Egypt, was denied a chance to overtake the American because her coach was too late in changing from 122kg to the 124kg needed.

The coach and Egyptian officials complained and Ahmed was in tears after making the 122kg, but both athlete and coach later congratulated the winner and her coaching team.

Ahmed made 99-122-221 and the first two finished way ahead of Anna Amroyan from Armenia on 88-116-204.

Turkey had its second winner in 24 hours when Sami Baki Kiymet took the men's 96kg on 145-180-325, ahead of the Italian Simone Abati, who just failed with his last attempt after five good lifts and made 144-173-317.

Kiymet, who started in the sport six years ago encouraged by his grandfather, a weightlifting coach, has already won two European youth titles.

As in the women's event, Armenia took the bronze on total as Ashot Margaryan made 137-163-300.

In Bariloche there was a high-quality and exceptionally close contest at 71kg in which the top three were separated by one kilogram.

The IWF World Championships bronze medallist Angie Palacios from Ecuador - whose older sister Neisi lifts against Rogers at 81kg in Argentina, and whose younger sister Jessica was a medallist in Durres earlier in the week - won with 111-137-248.

Vibert had a sweep of silvers on the same total but got there after Palacios, making 110-138-248, and Reeves went bronze-gold-bronze on 108-139-247.