On the occasion of the forthcoming Beijing Olympic Games, MaltaPost p.l.c. has launched the official stamp set commemorating these games in collaboration with the Maltese Olympic Committee.
The set of three stamps is designed by Darren Duncan, depicting pictograms of Athletics, Shooting and Swimming – three of the four disciplines most likely to be represented by Team Malta athletes.
The stamps, in horizontal format (size 44mm x 31mm), are printed by Messrs. Printex Limited and come in sheets of 10 with nominal values of e0.05, e0.12 and e1.57 respectively. They were revealed on Friday at the Maltese Olympic Committee's premises at Tal-Qroqq.
The stamps are expected to be much sought after by philatelists and thematic collectors, both in Malta and abroad. First day covers and stamps sets will be available as of yesterday from all MaltaPost p.l.c. branch post offices in Malta and Gozo.
MaltaPost representative Mr. George Galea added that Olympic stamp sets were first issued by MaltaPost back in 1976 commemorating the XXI Olympic Games held in Montreal; and then reintroduced in 1984 for the Los Angeles games and for every consecutive games since then namely, Seoul 1988, Barcelona 1992, Atlanta 1996, Sydney 2000 and Athens 2004; in total 8 Olympic Games have been commemorated by MaltaPost p.l.c.
Mr. Galea added that besides promoting an international event, it would also help in no small way to enhance Malta's philatelic standing worldwide.
Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Josef Gafa' presented the Maltese Olympic Committee and the prospective Olympic athletes with a number of first day covers. He also presented the MOC president with two sets of stamps to be made use of in the MOC Museum to be set up shortly.
The MOC President, Mr. Justice Lino Farrugia Sacco, said such stamp sets are an integral part of contributing to the awareness of the Beijing Olympic Games and Team Malta's representation at these Games.
Also present for the occasion was His Excellency the Ambassador of the People's Republic of China, Chan Xi.
He congratulated the Maltese Olympic Committee and Maltapost for issuing such a set of stamps to commemorate the Beijing Olympics, to start on 8 August. "It is not only Beijing or the whole of China, but the whole world that is waiting in earnest for this important event. The International Olympic Committee is satisfied with the preparations, now that most of the facilities have been completed," he said.
The conference was also addressed by the MOC Secretary General, Mr. Joseph Cassar, who said that these games should be memorable for the nation and for Maltese sport with selected athletes sure to make their mark. He also made a strong mention about the fact that Olympic Stamps have always hit the headlines since they were first issued in 1896. Since then, millions of collectors have bought such stamps which have now become valuable.
MIA Olympic Special – What’s On
Friday, 14 March on E22 at 9pm , Sunday, 16 March on E22 at 10am (RPT) and on TVM at 525pm, and Monday, 17 March on E22 at 2.30pm (RPT) will feature the following:
Featured Event - MOC Centre of Excellence
Maltese Olympic Committee Centre of Excellence (MCE) has been established in order to provide outstanding Maltese Athletes with access to a number of services, schemes and programmes brought together under one umbrella with one objective: to help them in achieving their ultimate goals and objectives to represent Malta in the international sphere of competitive sport and obtain good results in the international sphere.
The centre devised by the MOC President, Mr. Justice Lino Farrugia Sacco will allow the MOC to centralise and run the athlete services under the responsibility of a newly appointed commission.
This apart from the MOC President will include Mr. Joe Cassar, Secretary General, Ms. Marie Therese Zammit, Director of Athlete Support Programmes and Mr. Envic Galea, Director of Youth. The aim of the MCE commission is to identify the most promising athletes who can represent Malta in the various international sports events and provide them with extra support services in order to help them further upgrade their level.
These athletes shall still be entitled to the benefits National Team Athletes are entitled to but shall also benefit from other advantages under the Athlete Programmes.
Get to know more on MIA Olympic Magazine
Highlighted Event - Cricket
This programme made a visit to Marsa and followed what was going on in the Winter League. Marsa XI cross swords with Asian XI in another interesting match from the Cricket League.
Olympic Archive
A trip down memory lane will make us recall past editions of the Olympic Games.
Schedule available every week on www.nocmalta.org and on the Malta Independent newspaper every Tuesday. Produced in collaboration with E22.