The first part of the Athletics season came to an end this weekend as Athletics Malta hosted its Winter Championships at the Matthew Micallef St John Athletics Stadium in Marsa.
Graham Pellegrini notched another national record in the Winter Championships winning a high-adrenaline 300m final in 33.15s, with the Pembroke athlete edging Omar El Aida Chaffey (Zurrieq), who came in second in 33.93 and Luke Bezzina (Pembroke – 34.66s).
El Aida Chaffey had his moment of glory striking gold in the 60m sprint, clocking 6.82s, a mere 0.03 ahead of Beppe Grillo, with Omar’s twin brother Jacob in third place. A notable performance in this race was recorded by Lyon Falzon, whose 7.20s earned him fourth place and an Under 18 category record.
One of the most exhilariting races of the day was surely the 60m women sprint, with Claire Azzopardi edging out Carla Scicluna, with the slightest of margins, with Azzopardi clocking 7.59s, a mere one hundredth of a second ahead of her Pembroke teammate. Another remarkable performance for Under 18 athlete Thea Parnis Coleiro (Rush AC) who is gaining ground on her more experienced rivals, claiming the third place on the podium in 7.77s, 0.01s shy of the national record at her category.
Isaac Bonnici needed just a week to break again his new national record in the 600m, with the Rush athlete further lowering the best ever Maltese time (Seniors, Under 23 and Under 20) to 1:20.40 in a race completely dominated by the youngster.
The 1000m race proved to be also an interesting contest with Zurrieq’s Jean Paul Debono claiming gold in 2:31.61, followed by another performance by another youngster Michael Debattista Segond, an Under 18 athlete who finished in 2:33.89, once again making his an Under 18, 20 and Under 23 record.
Meanwhile, Athletics Malta has commenced a Level 2 coaching course, led by European Athletics Coordinator Ralph Mouchbahani. A total of 18 coaches, having successfully completed the first level, are attending this course, which kicked off today.
