Following her impressive performances in the National Championships and FISEC Games in Salamanca this week, lanky sprinter Celine Pace will be among the 10 Maltese athletes leaving the island today for the European Youth Olympic Festival (EYOF) in Paris between tomorrow and Friday.
Pace, winner of three FISEC gold medals in athletics in Salamanca, is once again tipped to do well in France where the best talent from around Europe will be competing in ten different sport.
Malta is taking part in three disciplines, namely athletics, table-tennis and judo. Apart from Pace, the athletics squad includes three other runners fresh from medal success in the FISEC Games - Jeandre Mallia and Charlene Attard, both sprinters, and javelin thrower Edwin Zammit.
In Judo, Malta will be represented by Roderick Cassar, Justine Buttigieg, Luana Ciantar and Malta GSSE medallist Rachel Grech. Kevin Abela and Umberto Borg Cardona will play in table-tennis competitions.
In a press conference yesterday MOC secretary, Joe Cassar, Malta's chef-de-mission in Paris, said the EYOF Games are of great significance for the development of our youngsters.
"Malta has been participating in these Games since the Brussels edition in 1991. Many Olympic champions emerged from the EYOF. We are confident that the high level competition will push our prospective talents to excellent results that would catch the eye of the Olympic Solidarity officials who are offering a number of scholarships to promising athletes," Cassar said.
MOC president Lino Farrugia Sacco augured the Malta contingent in Paris success. He reiterated the Malta ruling body of sport's objective to keep investing in its youth schemes, something the MOC will continue to do in future.
This week, Pace became the first female athlete to break the 25-second barrier in the 200m.
"The past few weeks were incredible," she said yesterday.
"I have been training really hard to improve my performances and achieving a national record was proof of my serious preparation. But I'm not going to stop here. I have to keep the progress going. My target in Paris is to set new marks in both 100 and 200m sprints," she said.
MOC Director of Youth Envic Galea yesterday said 5,000 children, from 20 different schools, were tested as part of the Talent Identification Scheme project.
"We are hoping to trace at least two per cent of those tested as potential leading athletes in future," Galea said. "We intend to establish Cadet teams in as much sport as possible and provide a solid base of athletes ready to take part in events such as the EYOF and the Island Games," Galea said.
The MOC is also planning to organise a series of activities at various venues where young athletes will take part in a seven-day long festival of sport.
"The Talent Identification Scheme is a fundamental aspect in our future planning. We now expect assistance from the Malta Sports Council to develop the scheme even further," Galea said.