Fund the Run: Kazakhstan

Pat "Buff" Mendes 
24 Years Old
Olympic Weightlifter

I am a former all-state football player from Las Vegas, NV. In 2008, I started Olympic Weightlifting with the mindset that it was only worth doing if I became the best in the world. After just three years of training, I became America's strongest weightlifter for two consecutive years. Some bad decisions and one surgery later I returned to the platform in 2014 to compete as a Brasilian. After winning the Brasilian National Championship a couple of weeks ago, I became a late selection for their world team thus requiring me to fund the pricey trip to Kazakhstan to finish what I started 6 years ago. Big goals take a lot of support and I know I wouldn't be this far today if I never had people in the past helping me out, so today I'm asking you to give what you can so I can accomplish my dream.

Videos of Accomplishments:
190 kg Snatch- 10 kg below World Record  (2014)
684 lb Squat (2014)
Surgery  (2013)
USA National Weightlifting Champion  (2012)
USA National Weightlifting Champion  (2011)
Unofficial Junior World Record Snatch  (2010)
800 lb Squat (2010)
World's Strongest Teeanager  (2010)