Maltese Athlete Makes National Weightlifting History, Takes Home Gold
24-year-old Yazmin Zammit Stevens made Malta weightlifting history yesterday evening when she won the country’s first ever international gold medal in the discipline. But while she was at it, she went and won two gold medals.
Her win at the tenth edition of Serbia’s Vladan Milhajovic tournament isn’t just impressive; it’s also the perfect warm-up her up for an even bigger stage next year.
“I’m one of two athletes to have rightfully qualified for the Commonwealth Games next year in Australia,” Yazmin told Lovin Malta. A total of 22 Maltese athletes will be going to the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games this April, either with universal places or qualifications. In Yazmin’s case, she’s earned an automatic place in the finals.
“It’s insane,” she told Lovin Malta. “It’s like wanting to go into a track competition and managing to go straight to the finals with Usian Bolt!”
Joining Yazmin in this honour is Kieran Mifsud, who technically qualified two body weight categories; the 105kg and +105kg.
This is not an honour which the young athlete has taken lightly. “I’ve been training and prepping like crazy and will continue to do so until next April,” she told Lovin Malta.
“Serbia was just the first step to see how my training has been going,” Yazmin continued. In fact, most weightlifters taper before going into an important meet or competition. Put simply, this helps the athlete target to peak their performance, which might also be very stressful on the body.
Yazmin didn’t even do that for this competition, and yet she still managed to get gold. She even set two national records; 99kg for a clean and jerk and a total of 178kg by the end. “That result is even more motivating for what’s to come,” she told Lovin Malta.
Earlier last week, while getting ready for what she called her “first real test in Serbia”, Yazmin broke her first weightlifting milestone; putting three digits over her head in the form of a 105kg behind-the-neck jerk. “Super happy, but never satisfied,” she had said in a Facebook video showing off her achievement.
“I cannot forget to mention all the incredible people who have helped me throughout my training and prep,” Yazmin said in an Instagram post this morning. Among the list of family, friends and sponsors, she thanked “Jesmond Caruana for always believing in me and my coach Damjan for making me work extra hard to fix my technique and get stronger.”
With a massive competition looming in 2018 and national records being set, Yazmin is showing no signs of slowly down.
“From Serbia, I came straight to Slovenia to prepare for another competition that I have in two weeks’ time,” she told Lovin Malta.
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