Over 200 countries will be represented in this evening’s opening ceremony at the Athens Olympic Stadium, and among them there will be tiny Malta with a small contingent of seven athletes.

Malta has missed out only twice since the Olympic Games held in Rome in 1960 – four years later in Tokyo and in 1976 in Montreal. And, considering that Malta had also taken part in earlier editions such as the 1928 event in Amsterdam, Holland, then our country must be considered as a veteran participant.

Never before this year have we had such high hopes of seeing a Maltese athlete finally gracing the Olympic podium.

Malta has had good results in the past, especially those obtained by shooter Wenzu Vella at the Moscow Olympics (11th in the trap event) and Peter Bonello at the Los Angeles Games (ninth in boardsailing).

But our expectations have never been high. Recent results obtained by our young shooter William Chetcuti indicate that the time might be ripe for Malta to clinch its first Olympic medal. Its colour does not matter much.

Chetcuti is being tipped for a medal by several shooting observers in Europe, especially after having won the European junior championship two months ago in Cyprus, when he also broke the world record with a stunning 146 out of 150 score.

Athlete Tanya Blake is also tipped to obtain a good result. She became the first ever Maltese athlete to have qualified for participation in the Olympic Games on her own merits. The others – Angela Galea, Neil Agius, Darren Gilford, Marcon Bezzina and Mario Aquilina – have also prepared assiduously and they will be doing their best to achieve some glory as well.

The Maltese nation will certainly be looking forward to some great news on Tuesday when Chetcuti takes part in the double trap competition. There is a chance to make history.