Team Malta’s adventure in the 2017 Games of the Small States of Europe gets under way today with the opening ceremony heralding the start of the 17th edition in the series in San Marino (start: 9pm).

Athletes and delegates from the nine participating countries will take part in the parade and ceremony that will feature several distinguished guests, including International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach and San Marino Olympic Committee president Gian Primo Giardi.

Team Malta is composed of 87 athletes and officials, representing 12 different sport. This evening, sprinter Charlotte Wingfield will carry the national flag during the march past.

UK-based Wingfield is seen by many in Team Malta as our best hope of winning gold this week in track and field as she will be looking to emulate her extraordinary feat in Iceland two years ago when she completed a sprint double, winning both the 100 and 200 metres races.

The Maltese Olympic Committee are urging for a strong performance in San Marino as the competition programme features disciplines which, traditionally, see our athletes stand out.

Mario Micallef, the Technical Director, is looking at this week’s Games with great optimism.

The MOC, he contends, is satisfied with the athletes’ technical preparation and expects positive results in various sport.

“During the last two years the Maltese Olympic Committee and all federations involved in the GSSE worked closely to ensure all athletes are afforded adequate preparation ahead of our trip to San Marino,” Micallef told the Times of Malta.

“Personally, I am very satisfied with the build-up and that’s why I’m expecting good results and positions in different sports along this week.

“The sports programme in San Marino includes competitions which our team members always excel in, particularly clay shooting and bowls.

“In track and field we do not have a very large contingent here but if you look at the names who qualified there is great talent in the group and we’re sure that they can all leave their mark during the Games.”

Micallef singled out the work carried out by the new administration of the Malta Volleyball Association who will be represented in the indoor women’s competition for the first time in 14 years.

“I was really impressed by the series of initiatives and contribution of the new administration at the Malta Volleyball Association,” Micallef said.

“They worked tirelessly over the last couple of weeks and their efforts are mirrored in the huge progress registered from the women’s volleyball team.

“They have been training really hard during the last year or so and they seem to have reached a very good level of preparation. They earned their place in the team and they deserve to be here to represent the country.

“There was also a significant improvement in the preparation of the beach volley players. Initially, we were not sure if we would be fielding teams in this particular competition, given our poor showing in Iceland two years ago.

“But the volleyball association took a different route this time around and, in fact, as a result of their commitment we decided to field a team in the women’s competition and another side in the men’s event.

“We are banking on them to give their all and we’re confident they will achieve most of their goals. They practised hard in training to reach this level.”

A notable absentee from Team Malta in San Marino is sprinter Kevin Moore, winner of two gold medals in the 200 and 400 metre races in Iceland two years ago.

He has not returned to competition after being engaged in a long-term saga to fight off doping charges.

Micallef said that he can only imagine the frustration of the Australian-born sprinter who has been sidelined for the sport for a year.

“For an athlete to miss one or two weeks of competition is very hard let alone an entire season and more,” Micallef said.

“Kevin had to stop just a few weeks away from what would have been his last Olympic Games of his career. It was a great psychology blow for him.

“Honestly, I don’t know if we will see Kevin back on track or not in future. I’m really concerned by the situation and we’ll just have to wait and see how the case evolves.”

Turning his sights back on the country’s prospects in San Marino, Micallef said the Games will be an ideal showcase for a good number of young athletes making their first appearance on the international scene.

“We have an exciting group of promising athletes coming up, particularly in swimming,” Micallef said.

“The Aquatic Sport Association is doing a great job and their coach Artem Goncharenko has raised the levels by a few extra bars.

“We are here with our biggest team of swimmers ever in the GSSE and the most pleasing aspect is that most of them are relatively young, between 14 and 16 years of age. We think they have plenty of potential.

“When we presented the ASA with the MQS’s for the 2017 GSSE, their response was low-key as they reckoned that none of their swimmers could make the standards required. But, here we are today with a fine group of competitors all aspiring to set net records at the pool this week.

“This shows that when our national associations get to work without wasting time and set their goals they can succeed. We want other associations to follow the ASA example in this aspect as it will only benefit the future of our sport.”