KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Wes Kitts has been an athlete since he could walk. Growing up in Knoxville, his dad was his baseball coach, but he always made him play as an outfielder.
Kitts' mom, Sandra, remembers her husband trusting Kitts to lead that part of the field.
"You know all the kids wanted to be the pitcher or the first baseman," Sandra said. "And his dad always put him out there. He would say, 'I need him out there. He's the only one who can catch the ball.'"
Knoxville is where Kitt's athletic abilities were born, and he was proud to grow up in East Tennessee. When it came to the Vols, he said, you are automatically sucked into the passionate fanbase.
"Of course, you have to be a fan of the Volunteers. I've got a little bit of orange blood, I guess. You go to church on Sunday, watch the Vols on Saturday, and spend time with the people around you," he said.
Kitts bled orange as a fan but bled red as a player when he started playing football later in life as a sophomore at Halls High School. He was an automatic fit for the Red Devils, and his athleticism took him far.
"He just did what the coaches told him to do, and that's why he did so well in football when he started," Sandra said. "I mean, all those kids had been playing all their lives, and he just started."
Like on the baseball field, his dad Stacy was his biggest fan on Friday nights.
"Every Friday night, that's where Stacy was, on the fence cause he was too excited to sit in the stands with everyone else," said Sandra.
The same support continued in college when Kitts played running back for five years at Austin Peay. However, when he was 21 years old, his father's death turned his world upside-down. Stacy lost a battle with lung cancer at just 48 years old.
Kitts was heartbroken when his number one fan was gone.
"I don't know if I ever dealt with it at all," Kitts said. "Just talking to him after a game was always the best. If I had a good showing, it'd be cool just to talk after."
After the passing of his father, Kitts started to hone in on another passion that stemmed from playing football.
"I always enjoyed the training aspects of football. I loved the weight room, and I loved pushing myself in that way. I developed this passion for the gym, and at this point, I didn't know weight lifting was a sport," said Kitts.
After graduating from Austin Peay, he started professionally training as a weightlifter. At 26 years old, Kitts moved to the Bay Area in California to join a national team, which propelled his future goal of becoming an Olympian.
"That was when it kind of dawned on me that the whole point of this weightlifting thing is to go to the Olympics … That's where it needs to end," said Kitts.
After five years of hard-core training away from his hometown of Knoxville, Kitts made his first Olympic team and was one of four men to represent the U.S. in the 2020 Tokoyo Olympics. Kitts finished eighth in the men's heavyweight category.
His family was proud to call Kitts an Olympian, and it was hard for them to believe that an opportunity so big could become a reality for him.
"I don't think we could ever dream this could happen to our son," said Sandra.
Kitts' Olympic journey is still going. On April 8, 2024, he officially qualified to compete in the 2024 Paris Olympics and will be one of two men from the U.S. to compete in the heavyweight category. His wife, Kendall, knows how hard Kitts has worked for this moment.
"His work ethic—there's nothing I can compare it to," Kendall said. "He gives 100% effort every time he's in here. I couldn't do it."
This time, he's not training in the Bay Area. Kitts is training much closer to home at a gym he opened in Knoxville. It's called, "Be Somebody Performance," named after two words his dad used to tell him.
"He had said that before. It's short, it's easy to tell yourself," Kitts said. "The point isn't to be a great weightlifter or athlete. It's just to give your best effort."
After his dad taught him those life lessons, Kitts now mentors 150 "Be Somebody" members and gives that advice to his two young sons.
"I just want to show them the example; nothing has to be out of reach if you work for it," he said.
Working for it is something Wes has done all his life, even after losing his dad. Honoring him a second time at the Olympics with his family by his side is everything he could hope for.
"He showed me how to give your best in all things, and that's how you get the results you want or hope for," he said.
The 2024 Paris Olympics start on July 26 and run through Aug. 11. The full schedule for weightlifting is still to be determined.