The Malta Weightlifting Associ‐ ation (MWA) hosted its much‐ anticipated Annual Malta Team Event this weekend at the newly inaugurated National Weightlift‐ ing Centre within the Marsa Sports Complex. The competi‐ tion drew a strong turnout, par‐ ticularly from emerging youth talent, underscoring the sport’s rapid growth and development in Malta.
The team‐based format created a high‐pressure environment where every lift counted toward overall points, keeping tension high throughout the day.
Star lifter Tenishia Thornton stole the spotlight, delivering a flawless six‐for‐six performance and shattering national records in both the Junior and Senior cat‐ egories. Thornton set new marks of 91kg in the Snatch, 114kg in the Clean & Jerk, and a 205kg Total.
In the Youth category, Aaliyah Gatt raised the bar with new na‐ tional records: 67kg Snatch and 90kg Clean & Jerk.
Fresh from her bronze medal win at the European Youth Championships, Kim Camilleri Lagana maintained her momen‐ tum with lifts of 66kg Snatch and 90kg Clean & Jerk, showing re‐ markable consistency on the platform.
Top men’s honors went to Rylee Borg, who totaled 272kg for 331 points. He was closely followed by Shaun Ciantar with 265kg (304 points) and Luke Treeby Ward with 224kg (266 points). Noteworthy debuts came from Luke Stefan Micallef (117kg, 260 points) and Nathaniel Fenech (195kg, 252 points).
In the men’s Youth division, Nathan Mifsud impressed with a 180kg total and 286 points, ahead of Nathan Balzan (214 points) and Gabriele Frendo (210 points).
The Under‐13 girls’ category saw Emily Livori secure first place with 120 points, followed by Mia Sant with 113 points.
Team Standings
1st Place: Iron Titans – 1,679 points
2nd Place: The Unbreakables – 1,611 points
3rd Place: PR Warriors – 1,563 points
MWA President Jesmond Caru‐ ana praised the athletes’ deter‐ mination: The performances we saw today, especially from our youth lifters, are proof that Mal‐ tese weightlifting is on the rise. Our new facility will only accel‐ erate this progress.