Nothing could have given Malta’s premier female sprinter Diane Borg, right, a bigger boost to her hopes of a Helsinki line-up at Europe’s major event, the European Championships, than establishing a new national record spot-on at the last of a series of meetings that the local association designed, to prepare its foremost athletes for the major events of this summer.

Her time of 24.15 seconds in the 200m this week-end, in an adverse wind of 0.2 metres per second, may not rank for a lot among Europe’s top sprinters but it certainly goes a long way locally, seeing that only a handful of females have ever managed times below 25 seconds at this distance.

As Malta’s current leading light – she is also the holder of the 100m record and holder of the best time at the distance this year too – it is now hoped that her effort to rub shoulders with Europe’s best will not go unrewarded, especially as it is well known that for the majority of participants at Helsinki an excellent result at the European Championships will also help them qualify for the athletics’ events at the Olympics which follow the Continent’s premier show-case.

For Diane, her current form and the excellent results she achieved last year at the Games for the Small States of Europe where she added the 100m record to the 200m record now consigned to the history attic, this result crowns a notable comeback.

In fact less than 24 months ago, Diane was just about to give up on her promise due to a recurring injury, but she doggedly fought on, turning a new leaf under a new coach and club, building fruitfully upon the success she obtained from her previous mentor.