Bright and promising future in athletics

Eleven medals, five silver and six bronze, in the most competitive of all sport is no mean feat. With the Monaco GSSE behind us we can now reflect on what we have achieved and where we could have done better.

The results we produced in athletics in the previous three editions of the GSSE must have raised the expectations of us all and, perhaps, we all expected better results last month. However, only those who take the trouble of analysing results will realise how high this year's standard was compared with that of Andorra two years back.

I would start by singling out the two silver medals won in the sprints by Darren Gilford (10.69) and Charlene Attard (11.97 - an improvement of 0.30 secs on her time in Andorra where she had placed fifth).

While this year we lost the bronze in the men's 200m event, Attard made up for that with a third place in the women's 200m in 24.54 secs (25.14 in Andorra).

In the women's 400m, we had Francesca Xuereb winning the silver in 55.72 secs followed by twin sister Martina in 56.48.

In Andorra, at that time only 14, Martina had won the silver in 57.89. Indeed, a great improvement for both girls as well as the standard of the event itself.

Nicolai Portelli successfully defended his bronze in the 400m race when he placed third in 48.72 secs (48.66 in Andorra). We had a second runner in this event, newcomer Mario Debono. He placed seventh with a relatively good time of 50.07.

Only 90 minutes before the 400m race, Debono brought the Maltese spectators at the Louis II Stadium to their feet when he challenged for the third place in the 800m.

Debono closed a ten-metre gap in the last stretch towards the finish, failing with only half-a-metre from the finishing line. His time of 1:53.32 was a full three seconds better off than his previous personal best.

Another creditable performance, which unfortunately did not yield a medal, was that of Jean Paul Callus in javelin.

His best throw of 63.89m was almost three metres better than his own national record. Yet, he placed fifth. In Andorra, his best throw of 58.12m had won him the bronze.

Rachid Chouhal, who started training later than usual for personal reasons, only managed a bronze in the long jump with a leap of 7.26m. In Andorra, he cleared 7.61m for a second place.

Those who refer to statistics will point out that in athletics Team Malta lost two prime medals when in 2005 we won gold in the 10,000m (women) and the 4x100m (men).

It was only a few days prior to our departure for Monaco that we learned Carol Walsh had an injury and that she needed pain killers to participate.

However, Walsh defied all odds and tried her best. She lost the gold medal but did well to finish her race and secure a bronze medal.

One must also remember that in track and field age is also a very important factor irrespective of how determined an athlete is.

Another athlete who did not even make the trip to Monaco, as she was still recovering from injury, was Rebecca Camilleri.

In Andorra, she had won the silver in the long jump and bronze in triple jump.

In the 4x100m men's relay, Portelli, Chouhal, Mario Bonello and Gilford, won the silver in 41.08 (only 0.39 of a second slower than the winners).

The team had definitely missed the participation of Jeandre Mallia, a valid sprinter who was not available for the GSSE. This, I strongly believe, was where we lost the second gold medal.

In the women's 4x100m, Lara Scerri, Therese Mallia, Charlene Attard and Diane Borg again won the silver in a time of 46.65 secs, 0.56 of a second faster than their time in Andorra.

In the 4x400m, the team composed of Borg, Attard and the Xuereb duo, were a strong combination. Few, however, expected the improvement of the Cypriot and Icelandic teams in this event.

The Maltese had to settle for bronze this time in 3:47.92. In Andorra, the relay was won by Cyprus in 3:49.15 while the Maltese registered a new record of 3:50.29. In Monaco, our quartet improved by 2.37 seconds. However, the winners' time of 3:45.17 was beyond our reach.

At the moment, the MAAA is looking with satisfaction to the future of our sport, knowing we have a good crop of upcoming youngsters some of whom are on the threshold of international competition. Others are trying out events we never competed in.

Meanwhile, the association is looking at ways and means of getting middle and long distance runners, the majority of whom prefer road running events, interested in trying the 3,000m steeplechase and the 5,000m and 10,000m on track.

We need to raise the standard of these events to be able to compete with a full team not only in the GSSE but also in the European Cup.

Indeed, with careful planning and the right and necessary support, the future is considered to be bright and promising.

Note: Anthony Chircop is president of the Malta Amateur Athletic Association.