Spiteri takes women's title, Zammit second

Danica Spiteri became the first Maltese triathlete to win a title in the Small States of Europe Championships after finishing first in the women's race at the Salina Coast Road yesterday.

The championships saw the participation of 25 athletes from Monaco, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Cyprus and Malta. Athletes started off with a 1,500m swim before going on to cover 40km on their bike. The final leg was a 10km run.

With three kilometres to the end of the women's race, Spiteri looked set to finish second behind pre-race favourite Jackie Komes who had a strong three-minute advantage.

However, the Luxembourg athlete felt sick and was forced to pull out, opening the way for Spiteri to go on and win in two hours 20 minutes and 29 seconds.

G. Andres, of Luxembourg, was second in 2:30.23 ahead of Monaco's A. Barbero, 2:35.35.

Luxembourg's Tom Carrier, the 2003 winner, confirmed pre-race predictions by topping the men's category in one hour 58 minutes 46 seconds.

Team success

Malta's Mark Zammit placed a creditable second in 2:00.36 while P. Lanat, of Monaco, took third spot in 2:05.07.

There was more satisfaction for Malta yesterday. For the first time in the history of these championships, Malta obtained top spot in the teams' section with an aggregate time of 6:14.21. Second place went to Monaco (6:23.51) while Liechtenstein (6:40.42) placed third.

The championships will be held in Cyprus next year.