Seven medals for track and field athletes
Maltese swimmers make first showing
The Malta team in the Island Games in Sicily last week, returned home with a 12-medal haul and an overall placing of 10th out of the 22 nations taking part, a Malta Olympic Committee statement said.
Athletes from 22 islands competed in ten different sports. The venues were in Palermo and Siracusa. Malta took part in track and field, swimming, judo, gymnastics and sailing.
The colourful opening ceremony took place in the stunning Greek Theatre in Siracusa. It was a beautiful spectacle that ended with colourful balloons, symbolising each island, being released into the sky. Ten representatives from each country marched around the theatre. The Malta parade was led by Owen Camilleri.
The closing ceremony was held in Palermo. The Canary Islands were the overall winners ahead of Sardegna and hosts Sicily.
The Maltese gave their utmost in the sweltering heat and obtained some remarkable results. The athletics team clinched seven medals (two gold, one silver and four bronze).
The gold medals were won by the women's 4x400m relay team (Francesca Xuereb, Martina Xuereb, Diane Pace, Dorianne Micallef) and Francesca Xuereb in the 400m race.
The silver medal came in the girls' 4x100m relay (Christabel Attard, Rebecca Sare, Francesca Xuereb and Martina Xuereb) and the bronze medals were obtained by Diane Borg (200m), Martina Xuereb (400m), Matthew Crocker (400m) and Francesca Xuereb (800m).
The Maltese sailors again walked away with four medals at these games.
Ella Fleri Soler earned a second placing and another silver for the girls' team event when she teamed up with Louisa Manduca. Gabriel Pace got a bronze medal and a silver for the boys' team event together with Sean Borg.
This year a token contingent of swimmers was in the MOC team for the first time. Talisa Pace managed a time of 2.18.32 in the 200m freestyle race to finish third.
In Sicily, it was also a first time for gymnastics. The boys team, composed of Jeremy Saywell and Terence Gatt, left a good impression even though the sport was introduced as an exhibition event for this year and no medals were at stake. Sonia Schembri finished fourth in vault and Roxanne Bonnici fifth in the bars.
Judokas Aaron Bezzina and Karl Lewis Cardona-Fiott were eliminated after two rounds.