Good performances by relay teams; Jonathan Balzan registers personal best in 5,000m

The Euro Championship (third league) got underway yesterday morning in Reykjavik, with a short opening ceremony at the main stadium in the Icelandic capital.

It consisted of a parade of the flags of the 15 participating nations. The Maltese flag was carried by Owen Lee Camilleri and Ian Paul Grech.

The Icelandic Federation president, Stefan Haldorsson, then made a short address after which he declared the championships open.

After the first day, Malta was placed ninth in the overall standings with 138 points. Fifty four points were won by the men and 84 by the women.

Israel lead the standings with 254 points, just three ahead of second placed Macedonia. Cyprus are third with 234, followed by Azerbaijan on 219, Iceland 215, Bosnia and Herzegovina on 194, Armenia 180, Luxembourg 157, Malta 138, Montenegro 131, Macedonia 124, Small States of Europe 95, Andorra 83, Georgia 78 and Albania 55.

The best results of the day for the Maltese were obtained by the two relay teams in the 4 x 100 metres and by Jonathan Balzan, who recorded a personal best in the men’s 5,000 metres.

In the women’s relay, the team, composed of Rebecca Camilleri, Diane Borg, Martina Xuereb and Charlene Attard, ran a brilliant race, finishing in front, well ahead of their opponents. They clocked 46.96 seconds which made them third overall in the standings.

Karl Farrugia, Owen Lee Camilleri, Rachid Chouhal and Andy Grech.repeated the dose in the men’s event as they also beat their opponents handsomely in the first heat. They clocked 42.85, but that time classified them fifth overall.

Earlier in the morning, at a different venue, Mario Mifsud was the first Maltese athlete in action. He took part in the hammer throw alongside 14 other competitors, some of whom were of a very high standard.

Mifsud, who is just a beginner in this discipline – he does not even have a coach yet – took part to obtain experience and finished in 13th place.

He had a first throw of 29.22 metres, followed with a second throw of 28.81. His third was a no throw.

The winner of the competition was Dzmitry Marshin of Azerbaijan with an excellent best throw of 71.10 metres. Second was Moldova’s competitor and third the home competitor. Of course, these three were in a class of their own.

Mifsud finished just below Montenegro and Armenia’s competitors, and above those from Macedonia and the one from Liechtenstein who was representing the Small States of Europe team.

In the afternoon, Mifsud was also involved in the Men’s Shot Put where he finished 13th once again, from among 15 competitors. His best effort was that of 11.92m. Ivan Emilianov of Macedonia won the event with his best effort that of 19.41 metres.

In the 400m metres hurdles men, Edward Grech finished 11th in a time of 63.94 seconds.

In the women’s 400 metres, Francesca Xuereb finished fifth, beaten to fourth in the final 20 metres.

In the women’s 400m, Francesca Xuereb ran a good race to finish sixth from among 13 starters in a time of 58.47 seconds.

Neil Brimmer ran a splendid heat to finish third. But he was 11th overall in a time of 50.22 seconds, equalling his personal best. The winner was Hakim Ibrahimov of Azerbaijan in a time of 47.76 minutes.

The 100 metres for women provided a repeat of the Liechtenstein final as Diane Borg and Ramona Papaioannou of Cyprus were facing each other again. This time, it was again the Cypriot girl who triumphed in a time of 11,88, while Borg had to content herself with third place in a time of 11.99. Second was Olga Lenskiy of Israel in 11.96.

The 100 metres for men saw Karl Farrugia finishing 12th from among 15 competitors in the two heats. He clocked 11.22 seconds with the winner, Rusian Abbsov of Azerbaijan, clocking 10.22 seconds.

Mona Lisa Camilleri finished 10th from among 12 competitors in the 3,000 metres steeplechase clocking 12 minutes 14.02 seconds. Gezashshign Safarova of Azerbaijan was first in 10 minutes 01.49 seconds.

Mark Herrera finished tenth in the 1,500m for men in a time of 4:04.41. The winner, Ion Luchianov of Macedonia, clocked 3:50.39.

Giselle Camilleri did well to finish seventh in the 3,000 metres for women clocking 10 minutes 08.44 seconds. The winner was Sladjana Perunovic of Montenegro in a time of 9:34.24.

In the men’s 5,000 metres, Jonathan Balzan placed 11th from among 13 competitors. He finished the race in 15:35.10. It was a personal best for the Maltese long distance athlete.

In the women’s 800 metres, Celine Pace finished ninth in a time of 2:20.18. The winner, Elena Popescu of Macedonia, clocked 2:10.09.

Field events

In the field events, Martina Xuereb finished 10th in the women’s javelin with a throw of 19.97 metres. Iceland’s Asdis Hjalmsdottir won the event with a throw of 55.18 metres.

In the women’s pole vault, Rebecca Camilleri finished seventh from eight competitors. She had a best jump of 2.70 metres. Jillian Schwartz of Isreal won the event with a jump of 4.10m.

In the triple jump, Alessandra Pace was tenth from among 12 competitors with a best jump of 11.11 metres. The winner was Tatiana Cicanci of Macedonia with a jump of 12.98 metres.

In the men’s high jump, Jeremy Borg finished 12th from 13 competitors with a best jump of 1.85 metres. The winner of the event, Dmitrij Kroyter of Israel, jumped 2.18 metres.

In the women’s discus, Antonella Chouhal finished 10th with a throw of 33.39 metres. The winner, Natalia Artic of Macedonia, had a best throw of 51.21 seconds.

In the men’s long jump, Rachid Chouhal finished ninth with a jump of 6.89 metres. The winner, Vardan Pahlevanyan of Armenia, had a best jump of 7.90 metres.

The championships will come to an end today, the second and final day of competition.