Malta participate in the Vladan Mihajlovic Weightlifting Tournament

Maltese lifters Rodmar Pulis and Kieran Mifsud participated against athletes from Bulgaria, Turkey, Hungary, Israel, Slovenia, Slovakia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and host country Serbia.

Pulis began his competition with a successful 102kg Snatch lift and in the second phase of the competition succeeding in his first attempt at 130kg Clean and Jerk and also his second 135kg attempt, narrowly missing out on his third and final 140kg attempt due to the technicalities that come with judging the form of the lift. This was unfortunate for Pulis as this attempt would have seen the Malta team place higher in the rankings as well as break national records. With a total of 292 points, however, Pulis managed to place higher than competitors from Israel and Turkey.

Rodmar Pulis and Kieran Mifsud in Serbia

Kieran Mifsud, the youngest athlete of the tournament at age 15, also had his share of misfortune by having to withdraw halfway through the competition due to injury in the second Clean and Jerk phase. Having performed his Snatch attempt of 95kg easily, a forearm pain following his convincing first Clean and Jerk of 127kg saw him exit the competition prematurely. It is worth noting, however, that this is by far the biggest ever competition for the young Mifsud.

The Maltese athletes were under the guidance of Jesmond Caruana. Caruana also was selected to do the technical official duty as the President of the Jury in the women competition.  This competition would not have been made possible without the help of Malta Olympic Committee and without the friendship and collaboration with the Serbian Weightlifting Federation.

On the same dates, Malta Weightlifting Federation member Stephen Borg participated in the European Union congress and elections. He was also selected for the duty of technical controller in the competition held in Split, Croatia.