These pages are this week dedicated to the winners of the MOC Awards who were presented with their medals and trophies during a gala night at the Excelsior Grand Hotel in Floriana.
The following were all the winners of the Awards:
Gold medals (7)
Theresa Camilleri, Annabelle Olivieri Monroe and Johanna Rizzo (women’s squash team), Mark Spiteri (tenpin bowling), Marcon Bezzina and Joanna Camilleri (judo), Sean Borg and Benji Borg (sailing) as well as the Elusive Sailing team consisting of Arthur Podesta, Maya Podesta, Aaron Podesta, Christoph Podesta, Mark Vella, Paul Apap Bologna, Paul Borg Cardona, Concetto Costa and Ben Robinson.
Silver medals (9)
Darren Gilford, Charlene Attard, Francesca Xuereb and the 4x100m athletics relay team consisting of Mario Bonello, Rashid Chouhal, Darren Gilford and Nicolai Portelli, Ella Fleri Soler (sailing), Angela Galea (swimming), Yu Wang (table-tennis), the Rugby ladies team consisting of Beverie Sultana, Amanda Cassar, Charlene Vassallo, Victoria Aquilina, Charmaine Gauci, Esther Farrugia, Colette Abela, Tessabelle Sultana, Marion Azzopardi, Dorianne Borg and the Maltese Falcon team consisting of Martin Scicluna, Matthew Scicluna, Matthew Xuereb, Martin Borg Nicholas, Lawrence Vento, Jason Galea, Harold Mallia, Des McWilliams, Andy Knowles and Nicholas Sammut.
Bronze medals (9)
Andrzej Makowski and Simon Gerada (men’s table-tennis team), Diane Biorg, Therese Mallia, Lara Scerri and Charlene Attard (Athletics 4x100m), Martina Xuereb and Nicolai Portelli (athletics), Madeleine Scerri (swimming), Philip Caruana Turner (gymnastics), Evgeny Ulanov, Kriss Law, Brent Law and Jerome Zammit (Men’s judo team), Gilbert Agius, Ian Azzopardi, Roderick Bajada, Etienne Barbara, Daniel Bogdanovic, Roderick Briffa, Ian Ciantar, Andrew Cohen, Luke Dimech, Justin Haber, George Mallia, Claude Mattocks, Michael Mifsud, Josef Mifsud, Mario Muscat, Jamie Pace, Peter Pullicino, Brian Said, Keven Sammut, Terence Scerri, Andre Schembri, Gareth Sciberras, Kenneth Scicluna, Steve Wellman, Ivan Woods and Udo Nwoko, as well as Derek Conti, Massimo Cremona, Samuel Bartolo, Mark Gauci and Stefan Pace (national table-football team).
IOC Trophy 2007
The Maltese Olympic Committee has unanimously decided to give this award for Sport and Promotion of Olympism to its former president, Mr Justice Gino Camilleri who, among other things during his presidency, was instrumental in the staging of the Games for European Small States in Malta in 1993.
Hall of Fame
Another six persons have been inducted into the Hall of Fame this year. These were also announced during Friday’s ceremony.
They are Dr George Abela, former MFA president, Peter Bonello, former boardsailor, Louis Borg, former Basketball Association president and former Maltese Olympic Academy Director, now president of the Malta Handball Association, Joe Cilia, former Rabat, Valletta and Malta footballer, Bertie Muscat, a former ASA president and secretary and MOC general secretary, and who is the only Maltese to be honoured with the Olympic Order, as well as sports journalist and administrator Benny Pace, founder of the national sporting contests on these islands.
MOC president Mr Justice Lino Farrugia Sacco congratulated all the award winners and said these Awards had become one of the major success events of the MOC.
He elaborated on the events in which the MOC took part or which it organised during the past year and thanked the athletes and the various officials from all the federations for their continued commitment to sport.
He also thanked Malta International Airport and Air Malta for the renewal of their contracts with the MOC for a further two years adding that such support allows the MOC to continue to monitor and prepare athletes throughout the year including development schemes and long term planning for 2008 and 2009, especially with regard to Malta’s participation at next year’s Beijing Olympic Games, the next edition of the Games for European Small States in Cyprus in 2009 and the Mediterranean Games in Pescara, Italy, also in 2009.
He also said: “Next year will be the MOC’s 80th anniversary; apart from various activities being organised because of the Olympic Games, the sporting public can expect a number of projects happening tied to our anniversary.”
* * *
MIA Olympic Special – What’s On
Friday, 21 December on E22 at 9pm, Sunday, 23 December on E22 at 10am (rpt) and on TVM at 5.25pm, and Monday, 24 December on E22 at 2.30pm (rpt) will feature the following:
Featured Event – MOC Awards/Hall of Fame
The MOC Sports Awards
The MOC Sports Awards are about acknowledging practicing athletes’ feats for outstanding sporting achievements in the international arena for a given period. Athletes manage to succeed through total dedication and sacrifice, and it is this dedication and success that is being recognised by the MOC. The MOC Sports Awards covers the full array of sports and this initiative will include other popular sporting disciplines not necessarily practiced during the GSSE.
All athletes are nominated through their association/federation and the MOC; those athletes who it is felt have truly commended an outstanding sporting achievement will be recognised with a token of appreciation with specially designed trophies categorised Platinum, Gold, Silver and Bronze accordingly.
Sport has a powerful role to play; through our athletes’ attempts, successes and dedication they inspire and show our society how important practicing sport is.
To celebrate our athletes’ achievements and to truly acknowledge their dedication, the Malta Olympic Committee acknowledged our athletes at a gala Sports Awards Presentation Night, which was on 12 December 2007.
The Hall of Fame
It has long been felt the need to pay tribute and to honour those who have served and contributed with excellence towards Malta’s sporting endeavours.
Finally in the offing, the Olympic Hall of Fame will act as a showcase of athletes, coaches, officials and administrators who have, through their participation and service promoted and fostered the principles of Olympic ideals at various levels whilst respecting the Olympic charter.
In line with other such Halls abroad, the Hall of Fame in Malta will serve to preserve Maltese sporting history and be a point of reference.
Acting as a motivating mechanism it will be a driving force for the pubic to emulate local sporting heroes and encourage locals to participate in sports in its different facets, whether on the sporting field or administration.
No doubt it will be an ideal inspirational force for those involved in sports to aspire to and hope that one day they too would be so honoured for their outstanding achievements, thus creating the right channels for greater attainment.
The Hall will be managed by a Board of Trustees constituted of former Presidents of the MOC as well as the active MOC board of management and, led by a Chancellor, will be responsible for the management of the Hall’s affairs. Eligibility for election will not be merely restricted to those who would have battled it out on the competitive arenas but will equally honour officials, coaches and administrators alike.
Schedule available every week on www.nocmalta.org and on The Malta Independent every Tuesday. Produced in collaboration with E22.