Leading Maltese Olympic Committee officials last week addressed the first in a series of Media Conferences which eventually will reach the climax with Team Malta’s participation at the Games for Small States of Europe in Cyprus.

Addressing local sport media, MOC President, Mr Justice Lino Farrugia Sacco stressed on the importance such Games have within the general set up of eight European nations.

Reference was made to the ever increasing standards burthening these Games in as much as that the MOC continues to emphasise that irrespective of various difficulties Malta’s participation will be a sound and realistic one.

The MOC President pointed also that such participation is also the result of the professional set up which Team Malta followed in order that the athletes present in Cyprus will be in their best possible form. Reference was also made to the fight against doping in sport and the MOC is strict on the matter.

The GSSE Media Conference was addressed by Mr Joseph Cassar, General Secretary of the Maltese Olympic Committee and Mr Vincent Scicluna, chef de Mission for Team Malta. Both officials gave details of the sport in programme and logistic data relative to the venues in Nicosia and Limassol.

MOC Director of Sport, Mr Mark Cutajar, gave details relative to Team Malta’s contingent bound for Cyprus. Details were given as far as those athletes and teams who have already reached and qualified further for the minimum qualifying standards reached.

Mr.Cutajar pointed on the monitoring system which is being adopted and which eventually will lead to the final list of Malta’s contingent which will be approved by the MOC Executive Committee.

Mr Cutajar also announced the names of those athletes who had reached their MQS’s by last week. These were:

• Athletics – James D’Alfonso and Giselle Camilleri

• Basketball – Men National Team and Women National Team.

• Beach Volleyball

• Judo : Men – Chris Law, Brent Law, James Falzon

• Judo: Women – Tiziana Apap, Suzannah Vella, Joanna Camilleri and Marcon Bezzina

• Mountain Bike – Etienne Bonello, Maurice Formosa, Marie Claire Aquilina

• Sailing (Optimist) – Nicole Manduca, Thomas Zammit Tabona, Edward Fleri Soler, Karl Miggiani

• Shooting – Double Trap – William Chetcuti, Trap – Frans Pace

• Swimming – Nicole Cremona u Nikki Muscat

• Table Tennis – Simon Gerada, Daniel Bajada

• Present for the Media Conference were also officials from national associations and federations who will eventually be present for the GSSE in Cyprus.

MIA Olympic Special – What’s On

Wednesday 29 April on TVM at 5.15pm and on E22 at 7pm; Thursday 30 April on E22 at 10am (RPT), Friday 1 May on TVM at 10am (RPT) and Saturday 2 May on E22 at 3pm (RPT) will feature the following:

Featured Event – Sailing

Sailing is the art of controlling a boat with large pieces of canvas cloth called sails. By changing the rigging, rudder, and dagger or centre board, a sailor manages the force of the wind on the sails in order to change the direction and speed of a boat. Mastery of the skill requires experience in varying wind and sea conditions, as well as knowledge concerning sailboats. Being one of the sport represented during the coming Games for the Small States of Europe MIA went to assess the build up.

Highlighted Events

– Darts/Bodybuilding

The sport of darts is usually contested between two players who take turns in throwing up to three darts. Starting from a set score, usually 501 or 301, a player wins by reducing his score to zero. The last dart in the leg must hit either a double or the inner portion of the bullseye, which is the double of the outer bull, and must reduce the score to exactly 0. Last week the MIA covered the Super Cup Competition.

In competitive bodybuilding, bodybuilders display their physiques to a panel of judges, who assign points based on their aesthetic appearance. The muscles are revealed through a combination of fat loss, oils, and tanning which combined with lighting make the definition of the muscle group more distinct. In contrast to strongman or powerlifting competitions where physical strength is important, or with Olympic weightlifting, where the main point is equally split between strength and technique, for bodybuilding competitions it is the, size, shape and symmetry that are the important factors during competition. Local last Saturday the Bodybuilding championships were held. Watch more on MIA Olympic Magazine.

MOC Section

– Press Conference

The Maltese Olympic Committee held a media conference providing an update on Team Malta’s preparations for the forthcoming Games of the Small States of Europe. This was addressed by Mr. Joseph Cassar, MOC Secretary General, Mr. Mark Cutajar, MOC Director of Sport, Mr. Vince Scicluna, Chef de Mission and Mr. Justice Lino Farrugia Sacco, MOC President.

IOC praises London 2012 Games’ preparations

STEPHEN WILSON

AP sports writer

The International Olympic Committee praised the “astounding” progress in preparations for the 2012 Olympics and said the London Games have not been slowed by the global recession.

Denis Oswald, head of the IOC’s coordination commission for London, said the games remain firmly on time and on budget despite the financial crisis.

“We can confirm that London 2012 is on the right track,” Oswald said at the close of a three-day visit, the first since the panel’s last trip a year ago.

He said the commission was “deeply impressed” by the progress made on the Olympic Stadium and other key construction projects in east London.

Last year, Oswald gave London organisers “9.75 out of 10” for their work. This time, he declined to give a specific rating but said it was “close to 10.”

London 2012 chairman Sebastian Coe reassured the IOC that preparations have not been derailed by the economic downturn. Organisers are confident they will stay within the E10.6 billion budget for venues, infrastructure and regeneration.

Oswald noted that the London organising committee, known as LOCOG, has already raised about E567 million of its domestic sponsorship target of E794 million.

He said London had benefited from “cautious and prudent” financial planning, with much of the revenue raised before the credit crunch took hold last year.

However, because of a shortfall in private funds due to the downturn, the British government has dipped into the Olympic contingency fund to cover some of the costs of the athletes’ village and other projects. But Oswald said he was confident there would be enough left in the contingency for any other needs.

Oswald defended the 9.325 billion pound infrastructure budget, saying the money was an “investment” in regenerating the Stratford area of east London.

The panel visited the Olympic Park, including the construction site of the 80,000-capacity Olympic Stadium. The arena will be converted to a 25,000-seat venue after the games.

Construction is also under way on the athletes’ village, aquatics centre, velodrome and media centre.