The Malta Weightlifting Association (MWA) have just held their annual presentations night where those lifters who obtained the best results along the season were recognised for their achievements.

Among those distributing the various trophies were Maltese Olympic Committee president Julian Pace Bonello and general secretary Joseph Cassar.

Alfred Ellul Mercer, MWA honorary president, was also among the special guests on the night.

Yazmin Zammit Stevens drew the longest applause from those present after securing the Master Level Award, the Achievement Award (thanks to her 37 national records) and the Most Improvement Award.

Zammit Stevens also won the National Championships title in the 69kg category.

Kieran Mifsud received the Master Level Award for men and Vlad Baldacchino was the most improved newcomer to the sport in 2016.

Shelby Vassallo and Rylee Borg were recognised for their commitment and progress and a recognition award also went to Kyle Micallef for being the first Maltese lifter to participate in the Olympic Games.

Jesmond Caruana, the association president, gave some interesting statistics on the past season to highlight the progress of the sport on our shores.

“A total of 115 new national records were broken in 2016, 40 of which were established at international events,” Caruana said.

“Nineteen lifters from the national team participated in 16 championships abroad and some of them returned home with medals and prestigious results. We also had our coaches and officials attending various meetings outside the country.

“We have lifted the profile of weightlifting in Malta and now we have to seek continuity and work harder to make 2017 an even more successful year for the sport.”