Michael Cohen: Olympic Weightlifter and Team USA coach - Kill Cliff

Michael Cohen: Olympic Weightlifter and Team USA coach

Michael Cohen is a native of Savannah, Georgia born to Howard and Carol Cohen. Michael made a name for himself in the sport of Olympic weightlifting, having won many National, Junior National, Senior, and Master Championships. Michael is a 3 time Olympian - one of the few in any sport to go as an athlete and a coach. He made the 1980 Olympic team and went on to be a member of the 2000 and 2004 Olympic teams as the head coach. In 1988, Michael founded Team Savannah. Under his direction, Team Savannah has dominated the sport of weightlifting for the last 20 years, producing many National, World, and even Olympic athletes.

ATHLETIC ACCOMPLISHMENTS

1975-79 USA Junior World Weightlifting Team 
1977 Maccabi Team (gold)
1980 USA Olympic Team
1981 Maccabi Team (gold)
1981 USA Senior World Team
1982 USA Senior World Team
1983 USA National Champion
1983 USA Pan American Team (silver)
1983 USA Senior World Team
1985 Maccabi Team (gold)
1986 Senior World Team
1986 USA National Champion
1986 Goodwill Team
1989 Maccabi Team (gold)
1997-2013 USA National Masters Champion
cohen1.jpg


Michael Cohen is the ONLY American coach to have athletes medal at all of the following events: 
Junior Worlds, Senior Worlds, Master Worlds, Pan-Am Championships, Pan-Am Games, and The Olympics.

Michael has produced 43 Senior National Champions, 82 Jr National Champions, 41 Youth National Champions, 31 Jr World Team Members, 9 Senior World Team members, 4 Youth World Team members
and 3 Olympians!

COACHING ACCOMPLISHMENTScohen2.jpg

1988 Founder, Team Savannah Weightlifting, Inc.
1993-2000 USA Junior World Team Coaching Staff
1998-2005 USA Weightlifting Women’s World Team Head Coach
1995-1996 Atlanta Olympic Training Coordinator (Savannah)
1996 Head Strength Coach, United Arab Emirates / Bahrain Paralympic Team
1998 USA Olympic Weightlifting Coach of the Year
1999 USA Olympic Weightlifting Coach of the Year
1999 USA Weightlifting Women’s Pan American Games Head Coach
1999 Competition Manager (Junior World Championships)
2000 Member, 2000 U.S. Olympic Team, Women's Weightlifting Head Coach
2001 USA Goodwill Games Head Women’s Coach
2003 USA Weightlifting Women’s Pan American Games Head Coach
2003 Competition Manager World Masters Championships
2004 Member, 2004 U.S. Olympic Team, Women's Weightlifting Head Coach
2011 – 2013 Savannah State University Strength & Conditioning Coordinator
(Basketball – men and women, Softball, Baseball, Volleyball, Cheerleading, Golf)
2013–present Director of Strength and Conditioning National Wheelchair
Basketball Association (who won double golds in Rio in 2016)
2016 -present -Founder and creator of GEM (Get Excited and Move), an innovative exercise program for those with Parkinson's and other movement
disorders

 

Cohen  (2 of 17).jpg