The Malta Weightlifting Association has just returned from Iran where Kyle Micallef represented Malta for the first time in the IWF Grand Prix in Tehran.
Being a qualifying event for this year’s edition of the Summer Olympic Games, it attracted 20 countries from Europe and Asia who all had their final attempt at securing a spot in Rio.
Kyle, who was assisted in the competition by MWA President Jesmond Caruana, lifted in the U85kg category. In the Snatch phase, Micallef opened his competition with a confident 116kg but was unable to hold his 2nd and 3rd attempts at 121kg and 122kg respectively above his head. The Clean and Jerk phase of his competition was significantly better than his snatch. In his first attempt he lifted 143kg which secured a total for competition. On his 2nd attempt at 148kg, he set a new National Record by 2kg, improving the old record which stood for more than 10 years. His 3rdattempt at 151kg would have set a new national record in the total but this lift was unsuccessful.
Micallef finished the competition with a total of 264kg, accumulating 316 points. In spite of not being his best performances this season, he obtained the 5th place in his group, bettering the results achieved by athletes from Slovenia and Mongolia.
The president of the Malta Weightlifting Association, Mr. Jesmond Cauruana also acted as a Jury member during these championships, including the 85kg category which saw Kianoush Rostami break an 18 year old World Record broken in the Clean and Jerk and an 8 year old World Record in the total lifting 220kg and 395kg respectively.
The Malta Weightlifting Association would like to thank all those who were involved in obtaining this success, especially Sport Malta and Maltese Olympic Committee, whom without their constant support, participating in such event wouldn’t have been possible.