The Malta Triathlon Federation held the 31st Edition of the Malta National Triathlon Championship on Sunday at the Salini Beach and along the Coast Road. Hannah Pace was confirmed National Champion from last year while it as Graham's Borg first National Title in his carreer.

In total, just over 100 athletes participated in all the races which were held on the day.

The National Championship was raced on the Standard (Olympic) distance which saw the athletes swim 1.5KM, cycle 40KM and run 10KM.

In the female race, Hannah Pace was unrivaled as she led from start to finish. Pace, who was defending her 2016 title, clocked the best splits in all three segments and in both transitions. Pace went in front in the swim where she opened a 90 second gap which left little hope for her rivals so early in the race. Pace went on to wrap the championship in a total time of 2 hours, 18 minutes and 58 seconds. Margaret Seguna, current National Duathlon and Long Distance Triathlon Champion was second at more that 4 minutes behind the winner, while the third place went to Danica Bonello Spiteri, the nine-time National Title holder secured a spot on the lowest place on the podium.

In the male event, the race was uncertain segment. After the swim, it was Latvian Stanislavs Vaipans that exited the water, followed by Shaun Galea, Bernard Sant and Graham Borg. On the cycling segment, Shaun Galea lost a huge amount of time due to bike mechanical problem while it was Veteran David Galea who clocked the best cycling segment of the day, followed by Wayne Spiteri and German Holger Mitterer. However, Borg opened a huge gap on the run with Shaun Galea bouncing off the mishap and recording the best run of the event as he covered the 10KM course in under 38 minutes. Finally, Borg grabbed his first National title in a total time of 2 hours 7 minutes and 42 seconds, with Shaun Galea grabbing second place with just 9 seconds over team-mate Steve Chetcuti in third place.

The Sprint Distance race proved to be an opportunity for the younger generation of triathletes to shine. The race was won by Malta Youth Triathlon Academy's Shaun Demicoli in a time of 1 hour, 11 minutes and 23 seconds. 15 year old Malcolm James Vassallo was second while Kersten Theuma was third. In the female race, German Eva Reinisch took top spot while Charmaine Sciberras in second and Elaine Fenech in third completed the podium. The Sprint Relay race was won by the team made up of Ruben Marin in the swim, Enrico Bradamante in the cycle and Rudy Muscolino in the run segment.

Mr David Fleri Soler, director at Express Trailers who supported and sponsored the race, presented the trophies to all the podium finishers and the Age-Group winners immediately after the race.

Mr Mark Gaglione from Medcomms & Garmin Malta presented a Garmin Fenix 3 sports watch which was raffled among the athletes at the presentation.

The Malta Triathlon Federation, in a statement, thanked the numerous volunteers who made this race possible, the local authorities, the traffic section of the Malta Police Force, the various sponsors and supporting companies and in particular, Express Trailers for offering the title sponsorship for the event.