Four Maltese lifters achieved prestigious results at the WDFPF European Championships, staged at the small town of Oliveto Citra, southern Italy, earlier this month.

The Maltese team placed second overall in the final classification, finishing above bigger nations like France, Belgium, Switzerland and Russia.

The first Maltese competitor to hit the platform was Francis Spiteri, 62. He contested the 82.5kgs class and the Masters 5 Division.

Spiteri squatted 155kgs, setting a new championship record for Masters 5. He also cleared 75kgs in the bench press and dead-lifted an impressive 190kgs.

Next up in competition was 2011 national champion Charles Degiorgio who competed in the -75kgs category.

He produced lifts of 180 and 190kgs in his first two attempts in the squats, just missing a 202.5kgs lift due to a technical error which would have meant a new national record.

Degiorgio went on to lift 115kgs in bench press and 230kgs in dead-lift, narrowly missing out on another new mark.

He placed fourth in a very competitive line-up of lifters.

The most notable performance in Oliveto Citra was that of the no.1 Malta lifter Mario Mifsud.

He bettered his own previous world record in dead-lift with an incredible 330kgs lift.

In Oliveto Citra, Mifsud had previously squatted 260kgs and benched 177.5kgs for a total of 767.5kgs which enabled him to top his -125kg weight class.

Kristian Mintoff’s took part in the Equipped division.

In the -90kgs category, Mintoff managed a 260kg squat, 150kg bench press and he pulled 275kgs dead-lift for an accumulated total of 685kgs.

Mintoff finished second in his weight category for a very creditable performance on an international level.