International Meet spices up local calendar

In years like this when there aren't the Small Nations Games to aim for, it can be difficult for athletes to find the right motivation. Of course, there are the Olympic Games but the reality is that only a handful of local athletes can harbour hopes of qualifying.

It is a situation that makes it all the more important for Athletics Malta to organise events such as the International Meeting that will be held this weekend at the Marsa racetrack. This meet will give local athletes the opportunity to test themselves against a field that includes some very good athletes.

"Our aim is to have a good, high-level competition which would serve as a strong preparation for our athletes," Athletics Malta president Tony Chircop said.

"In fact, through this event, we are launching the strategy to obtain good results in next year's GSSE in Cyprus. We also hope that we will be in a position to choose Malta's representatives for the Olympic Games."

Indeed, the standard of competition will be such that it should elicit a good response from the local athletes. In total, some 56 athletes from six countries - England, Italy, Egypt, Tunisia, France and Luxembourg - are expected to compete tomorrow, including a number of fairly high-profile names.

Athletes like Daniel Abenzoar, of Luxembourg, and Sicilian Giuseppe Adrizzone in the 100m, Nial Flannery in the 400m and Sergio Castronovo in the 110 meters hurdles are bound to bring the competition to life.

The stars of the show, however, could be the strong Tunisian team that features the likes of Kbabour Mohamad Ali, who has a personal best javelin throw of 73 metres, and Meddem Mohamed with a shot-throw of 18 metres. There will also be Labidi Sofiene (45.19 in the 400m), Badri Salah (3.42 in the 1,500m) and the female athlete Merdessi Ahlem who boasts a best time of 2.07 in the 800m. Most of these athletes will be taking part in the African Championships later this year.

Challenging them will be the cream of local athletics who have been "selected according to the results obtained during the aggregate meetings held to date by Athletics Malta".

The Maltese team could be bolstered by the presence of the 17-year-old Michael Fraser, a Norwich-based 400m runner of Maltese descent who has been invited to run for the local team.

Annual event

That much was confirmed by Chircop who also admitted that the aim is to make this International Meet an annual event.

"We are looking to build new friendly relationships with other athletics federations on both the north and south of the Mediterranean," Chircop commented.

"At the same time, we hope to have the financial means to keep organising this International Meeting on a yearly basis and perhaps even increase the number of overseas participants.

"This depends on the assistance we receive to stage this meeting. Naturally, this would also help to market the track and its facilities to attract foreign teams to come and do their training camps here in Malta."