The  Malta Amateur Athletics Asso-ciation (MAAA) is sending a team of 22 athletes to take part in this year’s European Team Championships (third league), being held in Banska Bystrica, Slovakia this weekend.

Up to 2009, Athletics Malta’s participation in this event was restricted to a small number of athletes, rarely more than eight, as part of the Combined Team of the Small States of Europe.

When these championships were held for the first time in Malta, the MAAA decided to take the plunge by fielding its own team.

“As one can imagine, sending a large contingent for an overseas competition is quite expensive but this is serving as great motivation for local athletes, especially as this is the only occasion when Malta can participate as a full team,” the MAAA said in a statement.

The 15 European countries taking part in these championships are Albania, Andorra, Armenia, Azer-baijan, Bosnia Herzegovina, Macedonia, Moldova, Georgia, Iceland, Latvia, Luxembourg, Montenegro, Slovakia, Malta and the combined team of the Small States made up of athletes from San Marino, Monaco, Liechtenstein and Gibraltar.

The Maltese squad is made up of Steve Camilleri (100m and 200m), Rebecca Camilleri (100m, long jump, pole vault), Diane Borg (100m), Neil Brimmer (400m and 800m), Nicole Gatt (400m), Lara Scerri (800m), Mark Herrera (1,500m and 3,000m steeplechase), Monalisa Camilleri (1,500m and 3,000m steeplechase), Giselle Camilleri (3,000m and 5,000m), Simon Spiteri (3,000m and 5,000m), Andy Grech (triple jump and pole vault), Rashid Chouhal (long jump), Antonella Chouhal (shot, discus and hammer),  Mario Mifsud (discus and hammer), Lawrence Ransley (shot put and javelin), Charlene Attard (javelin) and Ian Paul Grech (high jump).

The relay teams will be as follows: 4x100m (women) – Rebecca Camilleri, Borg, Gatt and Robyn Zammit; 4x400m (women) - Gatt, Scerri, Attard and Martina Xuereb; 4x100m men – Camilleri, Luke Bezzina, Chouhal and Andy Grech; 4x400m (men) – Brimmer, Daniel Saliba, Ian Paul Grech and Camilleri.

The athletes are accompanied by MAAA council members, Mark Farrugia and Robert Chircop along with physiotherapist Ivan Rozhnov.

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