Weightlifter Thornton misses out on podium places at European Juniors

Tenishia Thornton missed out on a place on the podium at the European Weightlifting Junior Championships that were held in Bucharest, Romania.

Thornton was Malta’s sole representative in the competition and was in action in the 59kg category.

The competition was the latest international appointment for Malta’s top lifter who earlier this month managed to win a gold and a silver medal at the Commonwealth Championships that were staged in India.

In Bucharest, Thornton had a good start in the Snatch event, when she lifted 81kg. That effort was enough to move ahead of lifters from France, Germany, Sweden, Romania, Norway and the Czech Republic.

On her second attempt, Thornton lifted 83kg and managed to move ahead of athletes from Poland and Spain.

Unfortunately, Thornton failed her third and final attempt at 85kg to end up in a sixth place with lifters from Ukraine and Italy taking the medals in the category. 

In the Clean and Jerk faction, Thornton experienced some difficulties during her warm-up as she felt some knee pain.

Thornton started at 100kg but she missed her first attempt.

Despite this early setback, Thornton was back on stage for her second attempt and this time she completed the 100kg lift. This lift was very important to put her again on the scoreboard.

Tenishia went for 102kg but she did not push herself, so she concluded the competition with a total of 183kg which placed her in seventh place.

“Another competition in the books,” Thornton said on her social media.

“I managed to surpass athletes from Germany, Sweden, Romania, Norway, France, Poland, Spain, and Czech Republic to place sixth in snatch and seventh overall.

“Not the best one yet but as I wrote last time this period was very stressful and I tried my best to push through the entire preparation process. Slowly I am getting close to my personal best lifts, now I just need to focus and enjoy the process to continue building forward.

“Nonetheless, I am hopeful for what’s to come now that I can start preparing for the upcoming events without stressing on managing between exams and training.

“I cannot begin to describe how thankful I am to have my coach, family, team-mates, friends and sponsors always by my side supporting me all the way.

“As always I would like to thank the Maltese Olympic Committee and SportMalta for their continuous support.”

Thornton’s participation in the tournament would not have been possible without the support of the Maltese Olympic Committee and SportMalta.