The Malta Triathlon Association will be organising its biennial Gozo-Malta Triathlon tomorrow, 30 April. The Race, which was first introduced in the Maltese Triathlon calendar in 1990, is one of the toughest events in local sports, and has the unique characteristic of uniting the three main islands of the Maltese arhipelago in an intimate way.

The Race starts with a run of 12 km from the quiet village of Gharb to Hondoq ir-Rummien. Here the athletes don their wet-suits and swim to Cirkewwa, via the spectacular Blue Lagoon; at Cirkewwa, the athletes then cycle to Mgarr (Malta), doing several loops at Xemxija in order to build the distance to 40km. Normally the Race finishes at Birzebbuga, but this year an alternative had to be found because several arterial roads are in the process of being rebuilt. All finishers will be presented with a trophy by the Mgarr Mayor, Mr Paul Vella.

In May, there will be the second race of the Red Bull Triathlon Series, organised by the B’Kara St Joseph Sports Club while towards.the end of May the MTA will hold a Supersprint triathlon at the MFA Indoor Pool at Ta’ Qali. More information can be accessed from the website: www.maltatriathlon.org

Following the hectic two-week training camp held at the beginning of April under the supervision of Malta’s National Coach, Mr Steve Trew, our top athletes are preparing themselves for the Triathlon Championships of the Small States of Europe which this year will be held on 2 July in Luxembourg. Malta’s ambition is to win a medal in both the men’s and women’s events but foremost in the minds of our athletes will be the seemingly impossible task of achieving the times set by the Malta Olympic Committee as Minimum Qualifying Standards. The times (1hr.56m for men and 2hr.10m for women) will translate into an automatic passport for the Commonwealth Games which are planned for March of next year in Melbourne, Australia.