The European Team Championships Third League at Marsa, held recently, was as much a colourful event as it was competitive and exciting.
Never before the last two days of spring 2010 had Malta hosted such a gathering of the cream of athletics from 15 nations.
Teams like Bulgaria, Denmark, Azerbaijan, Bosnia and others were present along with Cyprus and Luxembourg, some athletes from these latter nations more familiar among the Maltese due to their participation in the Games of the Small States of Europe.
Cypriot Eleni Artymata, for one, has risen considerably in the world rankings, making it to the final of the 200m at the World Championships last year.
Nonetheless, Artymata did not have it all her way, as the effervescent Ivet Lalova, of Bulgaria, not only beat her in the 100m but she was also instrumental within the 4x100m relay team to help her country win maximum points in the two events.
However, it was Denmark, with 519 points, that finally topped the classification, despite coming in first in five of the male events and only once in the 20 events for women.
In contrast, Cyprus, who finished third overall, managed nine firsts (five men and four women) while Bulgaria, with a strong showing in all events, took ten, their women coming out as leaders in no fewer than seven events, to take the second promotion spot.
There were others who left their mark though.
Albanian diminutive Luiza Gega, at 21, is a name to go by in the near future after winning the middle distance events, 800m and 1,500m, convincingly.
Then there was Luciah Kimani, from Bosnia. She posted another double in the longer 3,000 and 5,000m events.
In the 20 events for men, there were no such double acts.
However, a performance to catch the eye was undoubtedly that of Cypriot Ioannu Kyriakos, an Olympic medal winner. He won the high jump with a leap of 2.22m.
Yet another jumper, this time horizontal, Morten Jensen, cleared 8.16m, albeit with a following wind of 2.7m per second.
In fact, this jump earned the Dane the best technical performance award given by Athletics Malta, complimenting Artymata’s showing in the women’s 200m.
Athletics Malta also thought it fit to honour the fine performance of Team Malta, whose excellent collective performance earned the country, on this the first showing as a full strength mixed team, a mid-table position – ninth.
Malta put on show the inroads gained over these last years, emerging triumphant over much more fancied competition. The relays, especially, but not only, demonstrated this progress.
Individually, with his best technical performance among the Maltese men, James D’Alfonso finished fifth in the 400m and eighth in the 200m, while veteran Mario Bonello, who was also coach of the relay teams, put in a superb performance in the 100m to finish seventh in a seasonal best time.
Among the women, Malta gained the third spot in two events besides their prestigious performances in the relays.
In the 400m, Francesca Xuereb produced the best technical performance for Maltese women when she finished her one-lap sprint in a season’s best of 56.29 seconds.
In the long jump, it was Rebecca Camilleri, clearing 5.89m, to win Malta another 13 points.
Meanwhile, in the triple jump, the versatile Alessandra Pace continued with her progress clearing 12.12m to finish fourth, while another two fifth places went to Diane Borg (100m) and Martina Xuereb (200m).
Considered a result to build upon, Athletics Malta praised the team’s spirit, thanking all who contributed to the final tally of 287.5 points.
Particularly, the athletes were praised for their participation in events at which they were unaccustomed to and through which Malta still won valuable marks.
Encouraged to carry forward their ambitions, the athletes were promised full support for the more testing season ahead.
During 2011 Malta is to take part in two major track and field competitions in the space of a few weeks – the Liechtenstein GSSE and the more competitive Third European Team Championships.