16-Year-Old Maltese Weightlifter Qualifies For Commonwealth Championships After Setting New Records
16-year-old Maltese veteran weightlifter Rylee Borg recently qualified for the European U-17 and Commonwealth Championships after setting new national records.
This weekend, local weightlifters showed up at the Cottonera Sports Complex to break personal bests and records as a high number of lifters competed at the MWA ranking and qualification competition.
An impressive performance came from Borg after the ex-NSS student managed all-new personal best lifts at 108kg in the snatch and 133kg in the clean and jerk weighing in just under 81kg.
He not only managed to break all national records throughout all age categories until the U-23 but has also now hit the total required to qualify for the European U-17 and Commonwealth Championships.
Meanwhile, Tenishia Thornton, who is set to compete at the senior European Weightlifting Championships in the coming days, had a training competition as she prepares for the big day on 17th April.
She managed an impressive 84kg snatch, which is just 1kg under her best at the moment. She then went on to lift 103kg in the clean and jerk, just 3kg under her best in the 64kg.
She is set to compete in the 59kg category at the European Championships in Armania, which will be another Olympic Qualification event on the way to Paris 2024.
On the other hand, Kim Camilleri Lagana, who just competed at the World Youth Championships in Albania a few weeks ago, managed a 56kg snatch and 72kg clean and jerk which is an equal total reached.
And Vlad Baldacchino had the best male performance overall, where he managed a new national record of 132kg snatch and a 153kg clean and jerk in the 102kg weight category, scoring 314 points.
Vlad was followed by the previously mentioned youth athlete Rylee who scored 295 points, and Clive Cassar who managed 256 points after lifting a 100kg snatch and 120kg clean and jerk in the 89kg weight class.
Other considerable results came from NSS student, Nathan Mifsud who weighed in just over 45kg and lifted a 49kg snatch and 60kg clean and jerk in the youth age category.
Luana Vella, representing CrossFit356, also managed a respectable result as she improves her best to 63kg in the snatch and 76kg in the clean and jerk in the 59kg category. Monica Swayne (WIT) managed a 76kg snatch and 88kg clean and jerk in the 76kg category.
The MWA will now be continuing their usual training as they prepare for the Senior European Championships along with several other major championships they aim for this year.
National team coach, Jesmond Caruana, will also be assisting Thornton in Armenia.
Well done to all involved!
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