Capt. Andrew Lee, a battle captain at the Joint Multinational Readiness Center in Germany, competed in a weightlifting competition, helping to secure a regional title with his German teammates on April 11, 2026. (Leola George/U.S. Army)
HOHENFELS, Germany — Capt. Andrew Lee spends his days supporting Army exercises in Bavaria. In his free time, he’s the lone American on a local German weightlifting team that just won regional gold.
A battle captain at the Joint Multinational Readiness Center, Lee helped secure the title Saturday for ASV Neumarkt at the regional league finals against teams from across the state’s Upper Palatinate and Lower Bavaria areas.
Despite being conversationally comfortable in German, the Army officer has picked up much of the language through weightlifting terminology, which has helped him connect with his teammates.
“Right from the front, they’ve welcomed me with open arms, and their work ethic is incredible,” Lee said Wednesday.
Lee’s introduction to the team came via referrals from his lifting club near Frankfurt. He delivered the top performance of the finals, propelling the six-person team coached by Jens Fischer to a first-place finish.
The other members are Eva Bierschneider, Amelie Alagic, Sebastian Wurm, Amelie Horner, Lea Tschech and Tom Fischer. Neither Lee nor his teammates are full-time weightlifters, with most holding jobs or attending school.
Their path to the podium began in October with the opening meet of a six-event series hosted by the Bezirksliga Oberpfalz/Niederbayern, where teams faced off in head-to-head competitions leading to the championship finale.
Lee, who joined ASV Neumarkt after the opening meet of the series, competed in four of the six meets, missing one due to Army exercise obligations.
Each meet ranked competitors by total weight lifted relative to body weight across two disciplines: the snatch and the clean and jerk.
Though he admitted to being nervous during the competition, Lee set a personal best in the snatch and came close to matching his top clean and jerk despite not training intensely for nearly three weeks due to an injury.
In three of his appearances, he outlifted every other competitor, helping the team finish the season undefeated.
Lee continues to train with his teammates two to three times a week. This summer, he plans to compete in an individual state-level competition for all of Bavaria.
Capt. Andrew Lee, right, and his team won a regional weightlifting competition in Bavaria on Saturday. Lee is the only American on his squad and secured the top scores of the final meet. (Leola George/U.S. Army)
Army Capt. Andrew Lee, top right, and teammates pose following a regional weightlifting competition in Germany, Apr. 11, 2026. Lee, a battle captain for the Joint Multinational Readiness Center’s exercise control group, helped secure his team’s overall victory at the event. (Andrew Lee/U.S. Army)
