Updated: Grillo, men’s relay team break long-standing national records in Balkan Athletics meet

Maltese athletics lived a memorable day on Saturday after two long-standing national records were shattered during the Balkan Athletics Championships, in Turkey.

Sprinter Beppe Grillo broke the national record twice in the 100m race when first clocking 10.47 seconds in the semi-final (+0.2), beating Kevin Moore’s 2014 record of 10.49, and then further lowering his mark in the final when stopping the clock at 10.23.

Grillo’s performance in the final was outstanding, to say the least, when stopping the clock in 10.23 to secure the bronze medal.

Initially, the organisers announced that Grillo had clocked his second national record in a wind assisted +2.7. However, it transpired that there was a technical glitch as the race was held in a +0.9 conditions paving the way for the young Maltese athlete’s time to be ratified as a new national record.

The performance takes further significance as with this timing, Grillo has moved up to fifth place in Europe in the U-23 category and 29th overall on the continent.

In the same meet, the Malta men’s relay team broke the 4×100 national record of 40.63, which stood since 2005 and was set by Jeandre Mallia, Rachid Chouhal, Mario Bonello – Athletics Malta’s technical director nowadays, and Darren Gilford during the GSSE in Andorra.

Saturday’s quartet included Grillo as well, who was joined by Luke Bezzina, Graham Pellegrini and Jacob El Aida Chaffey as they ran in 40.57