Malta holds on to fourth place in Euro Team Championships

Team Malta has managed to keep hold of a prestigious fourth place in the European Athletics Team Championships. While Ireland, Austria, and Israel look set for promotion from the third tier, Malta has continued to lead the rest of the pack, gathering important points in various track and field events, and holding off the opposition of larger nations that have historically achieved prestigious results at international events.

The biggest points haul of the day for Malta was achieved by Gina Mcnamara, with an impressive performance in Silesia, claiming second place in the 800m women’s race. The athlete, fresh from three gold medals at the Games of the Small States of Europe (GSSE) 2023, ran in a personal best of 2:04.41, crossing the finish line just behind Louise Shanahan of Ireland (2:03.39) and ahead of Austria’s Caroline Bredlinger (2:04.78). Points were won in the men’s 1500m race as well with a strong time by Jordan Gusman (3:46.49) as he finished fifth.

Both 4x100m relay teams did not disappoint following their exploits at the GSSE. In rainy conditions, the men’s team, consisting of Luke Bezzina, Omar El Aida Chaffey, Beppe Grillo, and Graham Pellegrini claimed a prestigious third spot (41.11s) behind Ireland and Israel while the women, with Claire Azzopardi, Alessia Cristina, Janet Richard and Charlotte Wingfield, stopped the clock on 45.87s in fourth place.

Daniel Saliba placed fifth in the 110mh hurdles men with a 15.32s timing.

The field events also offered opportunities for Maltese athletes to shine. In the pole vault, Sana Grillo equalled her personal best achieved at the recent GSSE with a 3.60m jump to finish fourth, while Rebecca Sare jumped 12.42m in the triple to hold off opposition from Austria, North Macedonia, Montenegro, and place fifth. Luca Martini also scored points with sixth place in the hammer (53.28m). In the long jump, Jeremy Zammit claimed 7th place with a 7.18m jump.

Other Maltese athletes taking part on Wednesday included Rosalie Cauchi in the 400mh women with a 1:13.72 timing, Steve Camilleri (57.43s in the 400mh), and Alessia Cristina in the 100m hurdles with an 18.41s finish time.

At the end of Day Two of Three of the Championships, Malta has a total of 247.50 points in fourth, nine ahead of the nearest rivals Bosnia, and well ahead of all GSSE nations competing in this division as well as other nations such as Azerbaijan, Montenegro, Georgia, and Northern Macedonia.