The Maltese Olympic Committee celebrated the success achieved during last month’s Olympic Games in Beijing last week, a month after the end of the Olympics and the MOC deemed it fit to recognise the local athletes who obtained the best ever result for Malta. Pictures (from top) show Mr Mert Ozden who is assistant vice-president and regional manager for Malta from Credit Europe Bank N.V. with William Chetcuti and Madeleine Scerri; Chetcuti receiving a cheque for e5,800 from the MOC president Mr Justice Farrugia Sacco, and the group of athletes and officials which represented Malta in Beijing. Scerri and another swimmer who was not present on this occasion, Ryan Gambin, also received financial rewards for setting new national records in their events in Beijing. Among the guests present were the Ambassador of China, HE Chai Xi, as well as the Indian Consul in Malta, Johann Cuschieri.

Athletics at the forthcoming Youth Commonwealth Games

PART 1

ANTHONY FAVA

Council member and media officer

Malta Amateur Athletics Association

When the Maltese Olympic Committee invited the Malta Amateur Athletic Association Youth to nominate promising youngsters worthy to participate in the III Youth Commonwealth Games in Pune, India the Association immediately drew up a set of standards to be able to determine worthy contenders for selection.

In the final selection, however, the Council of the Association came to a decision to balance the choice of athletes with one eye on the Games for Small Nations 2009. Thus, in preparation for a wider representation in disciplines in which selection is chronically weaker, attention is being focused on the preparation of athletes likely to contest the hurdling events.

In fact, Pune promises to give much needed experience to those youngsters who are knocking on the door of the GSSE team. It goes to say that the state of preparation and the immediate past performances of these athletes helped the selectors no small way.

Clearly, on the basis of current form but also due to the magnificent showing of the Xuereb twins at the World Youth Championships in Ostrava, the Czech Republic in the summer of 2007, Martina and Francesca Xuereb virtually had to be an automatic choice.

In fact, the National Junior record at their favourite event, the 400m, was established by Francesca during this world event when both girls had qualified for the finals, a first time for Malta.

At this long-awaited occasion, a historic moment for a Maltese athlete in any competition, Francesca recorded a best ever time of 55.10 seconds for the one-lap sprint, a Junior Maltese national record, while her sister finished 9th overall. Consistently, these two girls have alternated success in true identical twin fashion, the only hiccup if one were to call it that, was the selection to the Andorra Games for Small Nations, where, due to an injury sustained prior to the Games it was Martina, then only 14 years old, who grabbed headlines and hardware.

Since then, after another interlude when Martina broke her arm, both have been sharing the spoils, more recently in the FISEC Games in Malta this July, where between them they bagged seven medals, two of which a joint effort, being in the 4 x 100m relay.

The twins are also beneficiary of one of the MOC schemes, which is very clearly helping them, and their coach Mark Farrugia, to select training camps and competition overseas.

Another athlete who exploded on the scene in a matter of a few months is Michael Fraser. The grandson of a Maltese grandmother whose father was born in Malta, months ago Michael expressed to the family his wish to represent Malta, the land he is so well acquainted with and attached to.

The Association invited him to take part in the Friendly International this April and the results were truly impressive. Meantime Michael had applied and was subsequently granted Maltese citizenship, appropriately bestowed on the eve of the FISEC Games.

Wasting no effort the lad immediately paid back the trust shown in his capabilities by winning a couple of gold medals and a well earned silver medal in the 4 x 400m. Not only that, but he smashed a long-time National Record for the junior 400m in the process.

The event in Pune will be like a family outing for Michael as his cousin Lucy Ellis will be there too, representing Scotland in the swimming events. In fact, his grandfather, a Scotsman now residing at Marsaskala, would have been perfectly happy had his grandson chosen that country, but, like a true victor from Fort St Angelo, his grandma wouldn’t have it otherwise.

History will also be repeating itself as Michael’s uncle, the well-known ex-Secretary to the MOC Mr Lino Bugeja, had represented Malta in the same event, the 400m – then measured in imperial “yards” – at the First Mediterranean Games held in Cairo in 1951. Back then the sea journey to the east end of the Mediterranean itself was a tough hurdle to overcome.

Standards in respect of the sprint hurdles were put on the back burner when the two coaches specialising in these events, Leandros Calleja and Lara Gerada, got on to the serious work to prepare our two athletes, Marija Sciberras and Michael Sullivan, respectively, in shape for Pune.

For Marija Sciberras this will not be her first taste of competitions abroad, having had experience, like Michael, competing with many athletes her own age at the European Kids Athletics Games in Brno, the Czech Republic and in the FISEC Games in Hungary last year.

Having started her athletics career in the middle distance events, Marija switched to the vertical jumps and the sprints before being encouraged to go for the hurdles by a visiting Italian coach brought over to Malta by the Association as a mentor for Maltese coaches. Coach Leandros Calleja believes that with her height and good co-ordination Marija is full of promise for the event.

The sprinting events’ being another of her strong points definitely gives credence to this belief, as borne out by her performances in the FISEC Games, when she won bronze in the 300m hurdles and a silver in the 100m hurdles, capped by another bronze in the 4 x 100m relay.

Michael Sullivan has not had a relaxed summer either. His coach, Lara Gerada, may not be going about his preparation with fanfare, but it has been intensive nonetheless. Training six days on seven incorporates weights, sprints, hurdles – each twice a week – teamed with beach training, including up hills and road runs and “mind-set” sessions have been the fare throughout summer.

Then there was the week with Mike MacFarlane. Brought over by the Association with the valuable help of the Maltese Olympic Committee, this former British champion sprinter and equally successful coach to contemporary British stars gave Michael and indeed all the other athletes in preparation for the forthcoming Games valuable insights and a new perspective to their expectations.