Challenge Meeting 6 at the Marsa Athletics Stadium produced a series of impressive performances across track and field, with the sprint events providing some of the afternoon’s most exciting moments.
Claire Azzopardi (Pembroke) and Thea Parnis (Rush AC) continued their ongoing rivalry across the 100m and 200m, with honours shared between the two. Azzopardi edged the 100m in 11.75s, just ahead of Parnis in 11.78s, but Parnis turned the tables in the 200m, winning in 24.23s with Azzopardi close behind in 24.68s. Alessia Cristina produced two solid displays, finishing third in both events with times of 12.31s and 25.48s. Diane Desira also had a day to remember, setting two national bests in the Over-35 category with times of 12.41s in the 100m and 25.81s in the 200m.
In the men’s 100m, Jordan Pace (Savio) topped a young field with a time of 10.80s, ahead of Jorrin Busuttil (Pembroke) in 11.08s. The men’s 200m belonged to Graham Pellegrini (Pembroke), who dominated the race in 21.48s — less than a week after winning gold for Malta at the Monaco European Challenger Games — with Jordan Pace again second in 22.32s.
The 400m threw up another competitive contest, with Under-18 athlete Nick Bonnet (Pembroke) dipping under the 50-second mark to win in 49.87s ahead of Ali El Fannouri (Rush AC) in 50.35s. Martha Spiteri (Żurrieq) was equally dominant in the women’s event, winning comfortably in 56.67s.
Thomas Neil Attard (Rush AC) continued his fine form in the 100m hurdles, setting a new national best in the Under-16 category with a time of 14.83s.
In the field events, Nicolai Bonello (La Salle) cleared 4.80m in the pole vault but narrowly missed out on a national record after failing his attempts at 4.86m. Sophia Curmi produced an excellent hammer throw of 55.38m — just five centimetres short of the national record — while Antonella Chouhal set a new national best in the Over-50 category with a throw of 46.68m.
