Kevin Moore ended his competitive season on a high with a second national record in the space of two days at the European Champion-ships, in Zurich, yesterday.
On Tuesday, Moore caught the headlines when he eclipsed his own national record in the 100 metres, covering the distance in 10.49 seconds... brushing 0.01 seconds off his previous best he had set in Australia earlier this year.
The 23-year-old was back on the starting blocks at the Letzigrund Stadium yesterday as he lined up in the third heat of the 200 metres event.
Moore showed great composure as he dashed home in 21.03secs to improve on his 21.04 he set in Geneva on June 15.
Yesterday, Moore finished sixth in his race which was won by British sprinter Daniel Talbot. He clocked a time of 20.63 seconds.
The Sydney-based Moore finished ahead of Marek Niit, of Estonia (21.04) and Slovenia’s Jan Zumer (21.47).
In the overall list, Moore placed 21st from 31 finishers.
“I’m delighted to have set a second national record in the space of a few days,” Moore told Times of Malta yesterday.
“Before the race I said to myself that I was good enough to go below the 21-second barrier.
“I missed that by a few hundredths of a second but I’m still satisfied to have established new benchmarks in the sprints.”
The record times achieved at the Europeans bring to an end an eventful 2014 for Moore who has now established himself as the country’s leading sprinter.
Apart from his feats in the 100m and the 200 metres, Moore also became the first athlete to win a race in the European Team Championships when topping the 200m event in Tbilisi, Georgia, in June.
Last month, he represented Malta at the Commonwealths in Glasgow where he just missed out on qualification to the 200m semi-finals by a mere 0.03 seconds, clocking 21.07secs in the qualifiers.
“The European Champion-ships were an amazing experience and a perfect finale to what has been a very positive season for me,” Moore said.
“It’s a great feeling to have managed to post two national records in my last competition of the season.
“Now I look forward to having a break from competition and then return even more motivated than before.
“I want to continue running fast races and, hopefully, clock a 20-second time in the 200m.”