Huge success for Maltese squad on the track – 3 golds, 6 silvers and 4 bronzes

Malta’s 20-year-old Diane Borg covered herself in gold yesterday after winning her first ever gold medal at these Games in the 200m and a second medal later in the afternoon in the 4 x 100m relay.

It was not only Diane Borg’s day, however, because two other gold medals were won on a day during which other Maltese athletes won two silver medals and two bronze medals. The other gold medals were in the women’s 4 x 400m and women’s 4 x 100m.

It was a tight win for Diane against Cypriot girl Anna R. Papaioannou and it had to be a photo finish that gave the victory to the young Maltese runner. In fact, the two front runners finished in the same time of 24.27seconds.

“I have been waiting for this for a long time,” she said. “My defeat in the 100 metres to Papaioannou on Wednesday was too much for me to swallow. This time I was determined not to let it be repeated. I started strongly and held on till the very end despite her insistence.

“This is my first gold medal in an individual race and my seventh personal best, which include the national records, in the last month. These Games have been a success story for me, something difficult to believe,” she added.

In the 4 x 100 metres, Rebecca Camilleri, Charlene Attard, Martina Xuereb and Diane Borg left Cyprus well behind as they set a new national record clocking 46.30 seconds.

Another gold medal yesterday was that obtained by the women’s 4 x 400m relay team comprising Francesca Xuereb, Charlene Attard, Celine Pace and Nicole Gatt. They won the race in 3:49.95, beating Luxembourg in second place in a time of 3:51.50 and Cyprus in third place.

Another athlete who covered herself in glory was Lisa Marie Bezzina. She finished second in the 5,000m in a time of 17:48.90 to clinch her second silver medal at these Games.

Earlier she had also finished second in the 10,000m.

Both events were won by Montenegro runner S. Perunovic, whose first ever presence at these Games, denied Bezzina two gold medals. In yesterday’s final, Perunovic clocked 17:39.70.

Bezzina said yesterday it was tough to combat the Luxembourg girl. “But it was she who tired out and I grew from strength to strength to end up in second place,” she said.

In the same event, Giselle Camilleri finished fourth in 18:04.53.

There was more silver for the Maltese athletes as the men’s two relay teams finished second in their finals.

The 4 x 100m team, composed of Andy Grech, Rachid Chouhal, Owen Lee Camilleri and Karl Farrugia finished second in 41.72, just .2 of a second behind the winners, Cyprus, who clocked 41.53 secs.

And the 4 x 400m team, comprising Neil Brimmer, Karl Farrugia, James D’Alfonso and Kevin Moore also scooped the silver medal after finishing second in a time of 3:15.73, against behind the Cypriot team which clocked 3:14.02.

There was also a bronze medal win for Owen Lee Camilleri in the men’s 200m. He finished third in a time of 21.90.It was his first ever medal win, before he won the silver in the relay event later on. The winner of that event, Iannou Pangiotis of Cyprus, clocked 21.46 seconds.

Another bronze medal was won by Alessandra Pace in the triple jump event.

In the 1,500m, Mark Herrera could only finish seventh and last in 4:08.58. The winner, Amine Khadini of Cyprus, clocked 3:50.31.

At the end of the day, Malta yesterday won three gold, three silver and two bronze medals. The end overall result was three gold, six silver and four bronze medals.