William Chetcuti... Rio hopes dashed.

The Maltese Olympic Committee (MOC) will go back to the drawing board to see what went wrong with its squad of elite athletes at the Olympic Games but is already planning a change in priorities and the technical preparation.

In Rio last month, Team Malta, composed of seven athletes from four different sport, failed to deliver on pre-set targets with the country’s top medal hope, William Chetcuti, finishing a disappointing 17th in the double trap shoot.

Target shooter Eleonor Bezzina, sprinters Charlotte Wingfield and Luke Bezzina, swimmers Andrew Chetcuti and Nicola Muscat, and weightlifter Kyle Micallef all failed to produce a national record or, at least, a single personal best.

In a media conference at Tal-Qroqq, almost three weeks after the Games ended, chef-de-mission David Azzopardi told reporters that the MOC had done everything they could to give the team the best possible preparation for the Games but all results were below expectations.

“We’re all disappointed with the outcome from Rio,” Azzopardi said.

“I can assure everyone here that at the MOC we did everything we could to make sure our athletes were well prepared for the Games. They all benefited from Olympic Solidarity scholarships and funds from the IOC and EOC besides annual grants for technical preparation which we receive from the authorities.

“We have already discussed the results and did our analysis. Now, we are planning to undertake new initiatives with the hope that in four years’ time in Tokyo our general performance will be much better.”

The MOC are planning to hold talks with all stakeholders, including the government, on the annual budget which for the past two years reached the €2m mark but still way behind other Euro small nations peers.

“The only way forward is more investment from all aspects of local sport. We intend to raise the subject in our next meeting with SportMalta over the coming weeks,” Azzopardi added.

“However, the biggest changes should be in our priorities. In the past we laid more importance on the GSSE and Commonwealths but we now think it’s time to shift focus to the Olympic Games which is the biggest stage of all.

“We have to identify those athletes with good potential to compete at this level and for them to benefit from a detailed programme we are planning to introduce. That way they will reach peak form for Tokyo 2020.”

The mental preparation of athletes also needs to be addressed, according to Azzopardi. He said it was time for the MOC to employ full-time sports psychologists to support elite athletes.

“Competing at the Olympics is an overwhelming experience. Most athletes, including ours, seem to freeze when they’re on stage,” Azzopardi remarked.

“A sports psychologist who can follow our athletes on a full-time basis is what we really need along with qualified, foreign coaches in various sectors and different sport.

“We now hope that our pleas will not fall on deaf ears and that the authorities concerned will continue to assist us and make our initiatives happen.”

On his part, Mario Micallef, the MOC Director of Sport, spoke about William Chetcuti's preparation and said that the double trap specialist had enjoyed a perfect  build-up to the Games and is somewhat difficult to explain his disappointing result in Rio.

"As Director of Sport, I followed almost every training session William had during the past nine months and his level of performances were very impressive," Micallef said.

"Even the day before of the actual shoot he compiled an Olympic record score. But unfortunately these things happen in sport.

"One has to point out that Marco Innocenti, who won silver in Rio, had never managed to win a medal in five previous participations, and that shows you that at this level talent and preparation is not enough... you need that everything falls into place on the day and that didn't happen to William."

Julian Pace Bonello, the MOC president, said their main responsibility was to provide athletes with the best training programmes and preparation.

“My appeal is for us and the athletes to look at the results in Rio as an incentive to work harder and try to reach higher levels and objectives. That could inspire us to perform much better in the next Games in Japan,” Pace Bonello said.

Meanwhile, MOC vice-president Mark Cutajar yesterday announced that he will step down from the Olympic movement when his term comes to an end.

“I have already informed the MOC of my decision that I shall not seek re-election to the Management Board of the Executive Committee next year,” Cutajar, the chief executive officer at SportMalta, told reporters.

“It’s a personal matter as I intend to take a break for the time being. That would give me enough time to mull on my future at the Maltese Olympic Committee.”