Team Malta have delivered an outstanding performance at the European Challenger Athletics Championships, held at the Stade Louis II in Monaco, finishing second overall with an impressive tally of 111 points.
The result sees Malta finish ahead not only of fellow GSSE nations, but also larger sporting federations including Armenia, Georgia, Albania, Azerbaijan, Kosovo and Montenegro, a remarkable achievement for the island nation.
The competition, formerly known as the Championships for Small States of Europe, brings together 17 European federations and attracts a strong field of top-level talent from across the continent. Malta’s points haul was built on three gold medals, four silvers and four bronzes.
The gold medals went to Graham Pellegrini in the 200m, Benjamin Salnitro in the 110m hurdles and Jared Micallef in the 800m. Silver medals were claimed by Gabriel Farrugia (5000m), Gina McNamara (800m), Sana Grillo (Pole Vault) and the Maltese women’s Swedish relay team, while Matthew Azzopardi (1500m), Nicolai Bonello (Pole Vault), Claire Azzopardi (200m) and Omar El Aida Chaffey (100m) each took home bronze.
The championships also produced three new national records. Benjamin Salnitro set a new mark in the 110m hurdles on his way to winning the event, clocking 14.52 seconds. Emma Anastasia Scerri broke the women’s 400m hurdles national record with a time of 1:04.59, while the women’s relay team of Claire Azzopardi, Thea Parnis, Charlotte Wingfield and Martha Spiteri set a new record of 2:10.24. At Under-23 level, Gabriel Farrugia also continued to push his own national record in the 5000m, stopping the clock at 14:35.15.
The Maltese delegation was led by Athletics Malta President Mario Bonello and supported by a team of coaches and technical staff. Malta’s participation was made possible with the backing of the Maltese Olympic Committee and SportMalta.
