18 year old Formosa breaks senior National Record

He even missed a 170kg press narrowly. This happened on the 14th of January during the first annual powerlifting competition held by the Malta Drug-Free Powerlifting Association.

The competition was won on points by Mario Mifsud, holder of a World Record Deadlift in the -125kg category. Kris Mintoff increased the -90kg category squat National Record which he already held by 5kg when he registered a 215kg lift. Newcomer Mark Abela managed a very promising fourth place in a 14-man strong line-up.

There were a number of other lifters competing for the first time too, Sean Micallef, Hayden Farrugia and Lee Said, all of whom performed promisingly. Neville Zammit managed a 342.5kg total in the -75kg category. Marvin Cilia and Matthew Muscat Inglott performed token lifts in the squat and deadlift respectively.

The most hotly contested weight category was the 82.5kg one. James Formosa managed to win it very narrowly with a 400kg total. 63 year old Francis Spiteri who has set his sight on a 200kg world record deadlift in his age group and bodyweight category managed to pull a personal best 185kg lift. Mariel Mifsud was the only female in the competition.