Team Malta delivered a promising performance at the 2025 European Youth Summer Olympic Festival, showing real progress and confirming the Maltese Olympic Committee’s commitment to long-term athlete development. The goal: to turn Maltese athletes from participants into genuine competitors at international level.
In athletics, Thea Parnis Coleiro got Malta off to a strong start. She made it to the semi-finals of the 100m and went even further in the 200m, reaching the final and setting a new national U18 and U20 record with a time of 24.06 seconds in the semi. She finished 6th overall, an impressive result on this stage.
Badminton player Jeremy Gatt, also one of Malta’s flag bearers at the opening ceremony, put in a determined performance in the group stage. He won two out of four matches, including a comeback victory against Slovakia’s Samuel Fodor and a straight-sets win over Norway’s Deeptanshu Toka. Despite solid efforts, he lost to Denmark’s Maxi Kaufmann and Greece’s Zisis Pegios, ending the group in third place.
Taekwondo made its EYOF debut for Malta with two athletes competing. Michela Scerri won her opening match against Austria’s Mei Hui Liu 2-0, before narrowly losing to Turkey’s Nur Yilmaz. In the –63 kg category, Alycia Cassar faced Germany’s Viktoria Rucinski in the first round but lost 2-0.
In artistic gymnastics, Sophie St. John, fresh from a strong showing at the GSSE in Andorra, competed in the All-Around event. She finished 26th out of 97 athletes with a total score of 47.050, including standout marks on the Vault (12.650) and Balance Beam (12.550). Her Balance Beam performance qualified her for the event final, where she placed 7th.
These results reflect a clear step forward for Malta in youth sport. Athletes are no longer simply taking part, they’re becoming serious contenders.
“Excellence doesn’t come overnight, but our focus on building high-level athletes is starting to show results,” said Charlene Attard, Malta’s Director of Sport and Chef de Mission. “This is a top-class event with Europe’s best young athletes, and our team is now competing, not just showing up.”
The EYOF took place from 20th to 26th July in Skopje (North Macedonia) and Osijek (Croatia), bringing together over 4,000 athletes aged 14 to 18 from 50 countries. Malta competed in Athletics, Artistic Gymnastics, Badminton, and Taekwondo.
