Few names in American weightlifting carry the same weight as Mattie Rogers. The 30-year-old has spent over a decade redefining what it means to be strong, not just in kilograms, but in character.

• Now, a new YouTube documentary, The Untold Story of Mattie Rogers, produced and directed by Rogers’ boyfriend, Carlos Bown, uncovers the medals, heartbreaks, and mental struggles never before shared publicly behind one of USA Weightlifting’s most acclaimed and beloved athletes.

A Star Forged in Struggle

The film follows Rogers’ journey from a difficult childhood in Florida to international stages. When her father died of colon cancer at age six, Rogers’ world changed instantly.

• “It was a fend-for-yourself situation from six years old on,” she says in the film. “I don’t think I had a good childhood, but it built my work ethic. It was survival.”

That instinct to survive carried her through a winding athletic journey, from gymnastics, track, and cheerleading to CrossFit, before discovering weightlifting in 2013.

She was soon competing at the highest level, setting her sights on the 2016 Olympics. Though she won “Best Lifter” at the 2016 National Championships and Olympic Trials, she narrowly missed qualifying.

Rogers’ first breakthrough came in 2017 when she embarked on a historic medal streak across multiple weight classes.

Olympic Debut and the Darkness That Followed

She finished sixth at her Olympic debut in Tokyo in 2021, and soon after, Rogers married her boyfriend despite some red flags in the relationship. 

• “I didn’t know what proper treatment was because I’d never had that,” she shares in the film. “I didn’t know what love felt like. I didn’t know how to give or receive love.”

In time, the relationship became abusive, which led to self-harm for Rogers. Her coach, Aimee Anaya Everett, checked in daily out of fear that Rogers might not survive.

• “I don’t know how I managed to come out of that as unscathed as I am,” Rogers says in the film. “Sure, there’s damage and trauma, but the fact that I’m still here, I’m just so grateful for that.”

Rebuilding in Pensacola

In 2023, Rogers relocated to Pensacola, Florida, to start fresh. For the first time in years, she trained among people, regaining a sense of community inside a CrossFit gym. However, her comeback was brief when a severe nerve injury resulted in partial loss of function on one side of her body. 

After months of rehabilitation, by the summer of 2024, her recovery had progressed sufficiently to allow her to compete once again. 

• At the Arnold that year, she hit a 250kg total to secure her ninth Worlds appearance and Best Lifter honors.

Then came yet another test. One week before the 2025 USA Weightlifting National Championships, Rogers suffered a Transient Ischemic Attack (TIA), a mini-stroke. 

Four days after being released from the hospital, she was back in the gym. Days later, she competed at Nationals in Colorado, claiming the national title in the 77kg weight class.

In July, she became the 2025 Pan American Champion, just 26 days after her stroke. With that win, Rogers cemented herself as the most decorated American female lifter in Pan Am history with 28 medals.

Legacy in Motion

Just last month, at the 2025 IWF World Championships in Forde, Norway, Rogers once again represented Team USA.

This marked her ninth consecutive Worlds, where she placed third in the clean and jerk and fourth overall with a 107kg snatch, a 140kg clean and jerk, and a 247kg total.

Her career numbers are staggering:

• 13 total Senior World medals
• Nine consecutive Senior World appearances
• Seven top-five World finishes

The Untold Story of Mattie Rogers 

The new film was quite literally a labor of love, as Carlos Bown, Rogers’ partner, directed and produced the entire movie himself. 

Bown’s prolific work has become revered in our sport, with collaborations with prominent brands and partners such as HWPO Training and TYR. Last year, he directed Unbroken: The Story of the 2024 TYR Cup.

• “I think it definitely helped Mattie feel more comfortable knowing that it was me she was talking to, and making the whole documentary,” Bown told the Morning Chalk Up. 

Before starting the project, they discussed it several times, and they entered each interview knowing they would address sensitive topics that had never been shared publicly before.

Bown mentioned that, in his experience creating documentaries, his role is to help the athlete feel as comfortable as possible in front of the camera and to let them know they’re in a safe space, but this project presented some unique challenges.

• “It was a bit harder because it’s my significant other in front of me. Some of these topics we’ve never discussed in person because they’re very personal, and almost some of those that she ‘tries to forget,’ so it’s better not to talk about them,” Bown said.

It was important to Bown while creating the film to include Rogers’ father’s story.

• “We both lost our dads to cancer when we were younger…and I cannot imagine how hard it was for her and her family. She has mentioned to me, since the day we met, how important her dad is in her life and how present he is even though he’s not here with her. She mentions him often,” Bown shared.

He wanted to ensure the documentary felt, in part, like an homage to her father, Drew.

• “We closed out the documentary with a frame that says “In Loving Memory of Drew Rogers,” and in my opinion, it’s perfect. Because even though he wasn’t there throughout most of her life and career, he knew she was going to be somebody one day.” 

In a letter, Rogers’ father left her before he passed (shown in the film), he mentions that he knew she was going to make the Olympics one day.

• “I think that letter and specifically that phrase were present in her head her whole life,” Bown said.“Most people see her as Mattie Rogers, the successful athlete that has been able to accomplish a lot in life, etc, etc, but nobody gets to see the road that shaped her into who she is,” shared Bown. 

He thinks that’s the main reason why she was comfortable sharing her story – it’s a way to inspire people and send the message that “there’s always light at the end of the tunnel. 

• “The last quote she says at the end of the documentary is ‘My career shows that you don’t have to be a prodigy or born to be this, that, or the other but you do have to be fucking relentless’ and I think that summarizes in one sentence that even if you had not the ideal upbringing, you can always shape the way you want your life to be with relentless hard work – and that’s exactly what she did to become who she is today.”