The Malta Weightlifting Association organised the second ranking competition on the 18th of March where numerous records were broken and many personal bests were achieved. Statistically, the event is considered one of the most successful in Malta weightlifting in recent times with an outstanding amount of athletes performing at their absolute best by large margins.
The soon to be 2018 Commonwealth lifter Yasmin Zammit Stevens has finally become the first Maltese female to lift in 3 digits breaking the 100kg barrier in the clean and jerk. Yasmin placed first overall with a total of 179kg breaking a national record in the 69kg category in the process. This promising result comes only 3 weeks before her competition at the Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, Australia.
Zammit Stevens was followed by Elisia Scicluna (-90kg) who finished with a 77kg snatch and 97kg clean and jerk, both national records along with a national record total which she broke twice over at 171kg and 174kg. This personal best result is a pure representation of her hard work towards aiming to qualify for the Mediterranean Games set to take place in Spain this June.
Other great result from Malta's female athletes came from Shelby Mangion Vassallo. The youth athlete who is preparing very hard for the Youth Olympic Games later this year, finished with a 58kg snatch and 72kg clean and jerk also breaking 2 national records in the process. The 13 year old Tenishia Thorthon (-44kg) gave an amazing performance and also managed to break 3 national records finishing with 30kg snatch and 46kg clean and jerk.
The men's group proved to be equally as entertaining as the women's were Malta's top male athletes battled it out to finish on top. Vlad Baldacchino is still unbeaten and broke 1 national records on the way to giving his best ever performance with a 126kg snatch and 152kg clean and jerk in the 94kg category. Baldacchino, along with Scicluna and Zammit Stevens, is another athlete hoping to qualify for the Mediterranean Games this coming June, and is showing promise towards doing so.
Another great male performance came from Matthew Camilleri who also finished with personal best lifts across the board with a 112kg snatch and 140kg clean and jerk. Kyle Micallef, Rodmar Pulis and Anton Micallef followed Camilleri respectively.
The meet also hosted some of Malta's youngest lifters who make a part of the Sport Malta 'on the move' program. This program has been introducing several young athletes to the sport of weightlifting and hopes to open the doors to a stronger generation of lifters in the future.
