At the Olympic Stadium in Heat 2 of the women preliminaries, Maltese runner Diane Borg yesterday finished third in the 100 metres sprint in 12.00 seconds, as she was beaten by Cameroon’s Delphine Atangana (11.71) and Belize’s Kaina Martinez (11.81).

Borg however clocked the seventh best time in the prelimary round, and qualified for the first round, held later on in the evening.

Running alongside world champion Carmelita Jeter in heat 2, Borg crossed the finish line in 11.92 seconds, just 0.03 seconds slower than her national record set at the Liechtenstein GSSE last year.

Although finishing last, this was the season’s best time for Diane Borg.

Also yesterday morning, Maltese swimmer Niki Muscat was the first in action at the Aquatic Centre in Heat 5 of the 50 metres freestyle. Muscat, who felt sick in the days prior to the event finished fourth clocking 27.22 seconds. Young prodigy Ruta Meiltyte of Lithuana won the heat in 25.55 seconds followed by Nikitina Gabriela of Satvia and Pigot Chinyere of Surinam.

In the overall position following the 10 heats in programme Muscat finished in the 43rd position from 74 swimmers taking part.

Meanwhile this morning at the Olympic Stadium other Maltese athlete Rachid Chouhal will be in action in Heat 4 of the 100m Men’s preliminary Round.

Chouhal will be in lane 1 followed by Gerard Kobeane (Burundi), Patrick Tuara (Cook Island), Tilak Ram Tharu (Nepal) , Carl Williams Courtney (Virgin Islands), Nooa Takooa (Kirgistan), Fabrice Coiffic (Maurtitius) and Massoud Azizi (Afghanistan).