The Maltese participation at the Commonwealth Games that were recently held in Melbourne, Australia, is more than satisfactory.

For the first time ever, the Maltese contingent won two medals in such Games. After Laurie Pace’s bronze medal in the judo event in Auckland in 1990 and William Chetcuti’s bronze in the double trap shooting event in Manchester four years ago, this time round, Malta managed two places on the podium.

William Chetcuti confirmed his great potential by maintaining his third position in the same event, winning the bronze medal again. Perhaps a medal of a different colour was expected, but Chetcuti must be praised for reaching top level and staying there. Earlier, Rebecca Attard Madyson had obtained Malta’s first-ever silver medal in the trap event.

There were other positive results from the Maltese athletes, and this is encouraging for Maltese sport.

Over the years, we have always felt disappointed when our athletes did not perform well, both in individual and in team sport. Our success has always been limited.

We all remember the few victories and draws obtained by the national football team, and consider them as having been a major achievement, although one must say that the occasions when we were so disappointed with the performances and the results of our players and athletes are far more numerous.

We all remember the third placing obtained by the national waterpolo team in the European B championships a few years ago. That was another milestone in our sports history.

We also remember the medal hauls in the various editions of the Small Nations Games, which, like the Commonwealth Games, also fall under the umbrella of the Malta Olympic Committee. The Commonwealth competitions are however by far more difficult than the Small Nations Games, where only eight of the smallest European nations take part. In the Commonwealth Games, there are giants like Australia, Great Britain and Canada, who are among the big players in world sport.

Therefore, the two medals won by Malta in Melbourne are a good indication that sport in Malta is progressing, within its limits. We can never aspire to be a top sporting nation, but there are certain sport disciplines in which we can excel and the MOC does well to concentrate on areas where positive results can be obtained.

The next target for the MOC is a medal at the Olympic Games, which is even more difficult to achieve because the best athletes from around the world take part. It is more difficult, yes, but not impossible to achieve.

The MOC, under the headship of president Mr Justice Lino Farrugia Sacco and Director of Sports Pippo Psaila, has done a great job over the past few years to give Malta a better placing on the sports map. They know all our strengths and weaknesses, building on our stronger athletes but without neglecting others who might make the grade in the future.

Standards have been set and only those athletes who achieve the requirements are allowed to represent Malta. In this way, the athletes are being pushed to give their maximum to get the “reward” of participation.

The MOC has received some criticism over the selection of Maltese athletes who do not reside here or who have never been here, but are Maltese by descent. This criticism is unjustified for various reasons, but mostly because that is what all other countries are doing.

We have seen this happening at the lower end of the sports scale, such as the Small Nations Games, but it also happens at the top end, with high-level athletes being “fought for” by different countries who want them to compete under their flag. If big nations who already have their top sportsmen want to add one or two more, why shouldn’t tiny Malta do likewise?