I am writing after I followed the fortunes of our athletes in the last GSSE Games held in Monaco recently. While congratulating you and your staff for the excellent service rendered to us readers, I would like to pass some remarks on comments made by MOC officials both during and also after the games. While it was evident that these comments were made in reaction to their hidden disappointment that certain results were not according to their predictions, I think that they should not have found excuses to cover some failures.

To say that obtaining a 30-medal haul was satisfactory is very questionable. How can we all be satisfied when we only won four gold medals? When compared to the results obtained by the Cypriots and the Icelanders, our tally is very poor. One has to keep in mind that the GSSE Games were specifically approved so that countries on an equal playing field could enjoy competing between themselves with equal hopes of success. If we are satisfied with what we obtained, what about Cyprus and Iceland? As one can see in the final placing, there was a big gap, as usual, between the best and the worst nations.

From what we are observing, even these Games are proving that some countries are more equal than others. I will definitely not blame anyone for the results obtained, as I know very well that the MOC officials, associations, and most of all, the athletes gave their all, and more, to get the best results possible. But I hate to hear the 101 excuses that are usually expressed when things do not come our way. Excuses like injuries, bad form, misfortune, all came up after the Games. Don’t we all know that there is only a fine hairline between success and failure in these competitions?

Before the contingent left for Monaco, we were given the impression that everything was in excellent shape and we were going to return with a heap of medals. The other countries’ officials could also lament all these excuses so they make no difference. I feel that before leaving the island for such competitions, we should be more prudent in our forecasts. First of all, each competition has its own story on the day and so it is not wise to count chickens before they hatch. It’s true that these forecasts can stimulate athletes but they can also put excessive pressure on their performance. Even after the Monaco Games, some high MOC officials did not learn their lesson and are already predicting a better performance in Cyprus in 2009. Don’t they realise that Malta is competing against nations, which despite having a small population like us, are very ambitious and are making bigger strides than we are?

Another excuse made by the Maltese officials was that many of the countries taking part in the GSSE are roping in athletes who are not really citizens, but could become eligible because of their family ties with the said country. This is a serious issue that should be tackled during international meetings. But we can also say that even the MOC roped in such athletes in the past and also in Monaco. Funnily enough, while criticising this “handicap”, MOC officials announced during the same press briefing that arrangements are almost finalised for a Maltese-Australian to swim for Malta in the Beijing Olympics. Who are we kidding?

My final suggestion is that we should all continue to strive for improvement and better results, but we have to keep our feet on the ground. We have to accept that through better facilities and sponsorships by the government and also private enterprises, we have made good strides forward but our rival nations are in a better position on all fronts, and so it will always be very difficult to reach their standards. From what we’re noticing in recent months, our high hopes in William Chetcuti’s chances of a place among medal winners at next year’s Olympics seem to be losing ground, as it seems that he has peaked at the wrong moment.

Let’s hope that I am wrong but through experience I find that medals are only for the very rare few.

Henry Calleja

St Julian’s