Rodmar Pulis has represented Malta for the first time in the European Weightlifting Senior Championships, held in Forde, Norway.

As this competition doubled up as a qualifying event for this year’s Rio Olympics, Pulis went head-to-head with some of Europe’s leading lifters vying to secure a spot at the Summer Games.

Competing in the under-77kg category, Pulis was assisted by Italian coach Domenico Marzullo.

In the snatch, Pulis opened with a confident 107kg and topped it with 111kg in his second attempt.

The Maltese lifter started his clean and jerk with a strong 140kg. He then moved up to a national record bid at 145kg but, despite completing the lift successfully, it was overruled by the referees as an invalid attempt due to a technical fault.

Pulis ended the competition with a total of 251kg, accumulating 320 points in the process to match the results he obtained in Cyprus. He finished 24th overall, ahead of lifters from Norway and Albania.

In a statement, the Malta Weightlifting Association (MWA) said Pulis’s results in Norway augur well for his prospects of qualifying for the Olympic Games.

“A final decision will be made after all continental qualifying events have been completed with the final confirmation being published on June 15,” the MWA said.

Meanwhile, Jesmond Caruana, the MWA president, has been re-elected to the Technical and Scientific Committee of the European Weightlifting Federation for another four-year term – 2016-2020.

Caruana also acted as a technical official during the Norway championship.