Xuereb sisters ready to take on the indoor world

Francesca Xuereb's reputation is starting to precede her. Recently in Sheffield for an indoor competition, the meet announcer promptly informed the public of her success last year when she made it to the final of the World Junior Championships.

Yet, for Francesca the awareness that people in the north of England knew about her was less surprising then her recent double at the Sportswriters' Association's awards where she won two awards - Sportswoman of the Year and best U-17 athlete.

"Well it felt amazing," she says.

"When they announced my name and said that I was the winner of the U-17 I felt really satisfied, and then when they announced that I was the Sportswoman of the Year it was just the icing on the cake.

"I surely wasn't expecting it but on the other hand I felt that all the sacrifices I had done were worth it. Obviously, I couldn't have done it without the journalists' votes and I thank them for believing in me."

Now, her focus is on the new athletics season. Other than the occasional spell of bad weather, the Maltese winter is rarely harsh enough to prevent athletes from training outside. It is a completely different situation from most of mainland Europe where the conditions are so unpredictable that the first part of the season is transferred to the specifically-built indoor arenas.

Ironically enough, this minimal need for indoor venues puts the Maltese at a disadvantage when taking part in any major competition such as the World Indoor Championships to be held in Valencia next March.

It is the need to prepare for the eventuality of taking part in such championships that spurs athletes like Francesca and twin sister Martina to make trips abroad where they can practise and compete in indoor venues.

"All competitions are important, but this was our first one in an indoor venue," they said shortly after returning from their trip. "Along with our coach Mark Farrugia, we were aiming to gain experience rather than good results."

In truth, they got plenty of both. They started off with the 600m where Martina placed second overall in the U-20 category with a time of 1:40.28. Francesca was third in 1:42.95.

For Francesca, there was then the 2,000m which is a wholly different proposition indoors than it is outdoors given the sharp, banked curves and this showed in her overall time of 8:01.70.

Tiring experience

It also proved to be a tiring experience and this was reflected in her time of 8.33s in the 60m dash later on in the day, an event in which Martina did extremely well to place second in the senior category with a time of 8.03s.

In between, Martina had also won her category in the 150m with a time of 18.88s.

The siblings agreed that running in the tight bends of an indoor arena took some time to get used to.

"It was pretty challenging as it was a completely new experience for us," Francesca said. "In the sharp bends it is quite difficult to keep your balance but as you come to the straight part you feel as though you are flying because you gain a lot of speed."

Even so, the trip will serve the Starmax Athletes duo well should either one of them reach their target of making it to Valencia next month.