All those who follow athletics are in for a treat tomorrow. It has been quite some time now since we saw a 400m hurdles race at the Marsa, but on Saturday with athletes like Wavelt Bruno (52.26) of France and Niall Flannery (52.47) of Northern UK Athletics, we should have a very good race during the international meeting being organised by Athletics Malta.

An athlete with more than an eye on his performance in tomorrow’s event will be Daniel Abenzoar, 26 years, hailing from France, but who will represent Luxembourg. He has been competing on the track for the last 11 years. starting with middle distance running the 800, and 1500 metres, cross country, and 300 metres sprint. However his main event today is the 100m for which he has the best time of 10.41secs. But Daniel will be facing some tough competition on Saturday and this is expected to come from Giuseppe Adrizzone (Sicily ) who has recently ran a 10.50secs.

Teams from Northern England, SC Catania, Egypt and Tunisia have confirmed their participation. Other individual athletes are expected from Luxembourg, France and Monaco. The North England team, with 23 athletes, will present a most formidable team.

Particularly interesting will be the team from Tunisia which include Ben Ahmed Eymen, Meddeb Mohammed, and the 800 metre athlete Merdessi Ahlem. These Tunisian athletes will join some Egyptian runners competing in the forthcoming Africa Cup 2008. Among the strong contingent from the Sports Club Catania one will find the name of Sergio Castronovo, with a personal best of 14:18 in the 110 metres hurdles.

Maltese top athletes such as Nikolai Portelli, who only last Saturday run the 400 metres in a fine 49:52, will have an opportunity to compete against athletes who will not surprisingly we will watch in the next Olympic Games in Beijing.

Another young athlete who will be closely followed, will be Francesca Xuereb, the current Sports woman of the Year.

The 400 metre sprinter classified eighth in World Youth 2007 will be anxious to further establish herself for a strong participation in the Youth Commonwealth Games in India 2008, and of course Beijing. As well as her twin sister Martina Xuereb, silver medallist in the 400 meters GSSE in Monaco.

Darren Gillford with a personal best of 10:54 in the 100 metre sprint will be eyeing a qualifying time for the Olympics. Rachid Chouhal, national champion with his seasonal best of 7.63 metre jump, only seven cms short of the national record, will also be targeting direct qualification in the 100 metres, while his wife, discus thrower Antonella Chouhal has set her ambition with a 45 meter discus throw.

I met Daniel Abenzoar last week at Marsa, where he has been training for the last two weeks. Do you consider yourself another Carl Lewis? No, definitely you cannot compare, but I have great respect for Obadele Thompson of Barbados who ran the 100 metres in 9:69 seconds, though strong winds prevailed. He has been a professional athlete since 2004, and runs for two clubs, one in France and another in Luxembourg.

He points out that the professional athlete will make life easier. Previously he felt already burnt out after a day at work or at the College. It was difficult to participate in training camps. Athletes are funded through a Sports Company which is a co-operation between the Olympic Committee, the Ministry for Sports and the Ministry for Defence. The career will start four months of training with the Army, followed a monthly check-ups.

Daniel Abenzoar joined the French national team in 1999, and he reached the quarter-finals of 100 and 200 metres in the European Championships in Gothenburg in 2006. In 2005 he was in the first 20 sprinters of the 200 metres. He suffered Achilles Tendon injuries during the last GSSE games. He usually participates in training camps in Portugal, and in Guadalupe in the Caribbean.

Regarding the political implications of the Beijing Olympics, Daniel remarks that if the Government asks him to boycott the games, he will do it. He says it was the responsibility of the Olympic Council to choose the country hosting the games, and not the athletes. The Olympic Charter demands that you don’t show your political ideals. Indeed, not surprisingly, Beijing is his ambition.

He is eager to take up coaching when he hangs up his boots. He emphasises that doping is the worst enemy of sport. You don’t need doping to win meetings, he concludes.

The Maltese sporting public is urged to support the local athletes, while enjoying the afternoon meeting.